màm
Library
of the
University of Toronto
FIG. 52. — WATER-CARRIERS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES,
WONDERS OF WATER.
FROM THE FRENCH OF
GASTON TISSANDIER.
THE ENGLISH REVISED BY
ROBERT STAWELL BALL, LL.D.,
Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Royal College of Science, Dublin.
iOttï) 3IUujBtration&
CASSELL PETTER & GALPIN:
LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2018 with funding from
University of Toronto
https://archive.org/details/wondersofwaterOOtiss
CONTENTS.
BOOK I.— THE OCEAN.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
A GLANCE AT THE OCEAN . 3
Extent .....---.-4
Depth ---------- 4
Colour --..--..-.8
Temperature - - - - - - - - -10
CHAPTER II.
MOVEMENTS OF THE SEA ------- 14
Superficial Agitation - - - - - - - *14
The Tides - - - - - - - - - -16
Currents - -- -- -- -- -18
CHAPTER III.
DESTRUCTIVE AND FORMATIVE ACTION OF WATER - - 31
Struggle of Water against the Land - - •- - • 31
Reproductive Effects --------39
IV
CONTENTS.
BOOK II.— THE SYSTEM OF CIRCULATION.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
JOURNEYS OF THE WATER . 47
CHAPTER II.
WATER IN THE ATMOSPHERE ------ 53
The Vapour of Water ------- 53
Fogs . 55
Clouds ---------- 56
Condensation of VajDour of Water — Rain— Snow — Dew - 59
CPIAPTER III.
ARTERIAL SYSTEM OF CONTINENTS . 63
Rivers ---------- 63
Length and Depth of Rivers ------ 68
Shores and Floating Islands - - - - - - 71
Colour of River Water - -.---.76
Subterranean Circulation ------- 79
BOOK III.— THE ACTION OF WATER ON
CONTINENTS.
CHAPTER I.
MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL ACTION . 83
Currents — Transport -------- 86
Torrents and Rapids -------- 90
Floating Ice --------- 93
Waterfalls and Cascades ------- 94
CHAPTER II.
DELTAS - — t-.-. — _____ 103
CONTENTS.
V
PAGE
CHAPTER III.
INUNDATIONS . Iio
CHAPTER IV.
CHEMICAL ACTION . - 1 15
Petrifying Fountains — Stalactites - - - « - 1 1 5
Pisolites — Oolites ..... - - 120
Still Waters - - - - - - - - -121
CHAPTER V.
YESTERDAY AND TO-MORROW . 123
BOOK IV.— THE COMPOSITION OF WATER,
AND ITS PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL
PROPERTIES.
CHAPTER I.
WHAT IS WATER? . 127
The Laboratory - - - - - - - -127
Analysis and Synthesis - - - - - - -129
Composition of Water - - - - - « -139
CHAPTER II.
THE ACTION OF HEAT . 142
Ebullition - - - - - - - - -142
CHAPTER III.
INFLUENCE OF COLD , - - 146
An apparent Exception to the Laws of Nature - - 146
VI
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER IV.
SOLID WATER . 1 50
The Architecture of Atoms - - - - - -150
Ice and Glaciers - - - - - - - -152
CHAPTER V.
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER . 1 58
Solution - - - - - - - - - -158
Colour and Transparency of Salts - - - - - 159
Plants and Animals - - - - - - - -162
BOOK V.— THE USES OF WATER.
CHAPTER I.
WATER AND AGRICULTURE . 1 65
Irrigation and Drainage - - - - - - -167
Warping- • - - - - - - - -172
CHAPTER II.
SALT WATERS . - - - 1 73
Sea Salt - - - - - - - - - 1 73
CHAPTER III.
ICE AND ITS ARTIFICIAL MANUFACTURE - - - - 1 79
Gouland’s Apparatus — Domestic Refrigerator - - - 181
Carré’s Apparatus - - - - - - - -185
CHAPTER IV.
MINERAL WATERS . 1 89
Popular Errors - - - - - - - -189
The Action of Mineral Waters - ----- 191
Classification - - - - - - - - -196
Treatment - 197
CONTENTS,
Vil
PAGE
CHAPTER V.
BATHS . i99
Fresh and Sea Water Baths ------ 203
Cold Water-cure ........ 207
Artificial Mineral Waters - - - - - - - 210
CHAPTER VI.
PUBLIC HEALTH . 2 14
Drinking Water - - - - - - - - 214
Industrial and Domestic Uses - - - - - - 217
CHAPTER VII.
THE WATER OF PARIS . 220
A Glance at the Past ------- 220
The Water drunk by Parisians ------ 226
Remedy for the Evil ------- 228
Drains ---------- 234
CHAPTER VIII.
ARTESIAN WELLS . 24 1
Subterranean Reservoirs - - - - - - - 241
The Well of Grenelle ------- 243
The Well of Passy -------- 246
Utilisation of the Central Heat of the Globe by Artesian
Wells . 249
CHAPTER IX.
- 251
THE OASIS TN THE DESERT
WONDERS OF WATER.
>
WONDERS OF WATER.
BOOK I
THE OCEAN.
CHAPTER I.
“ The contemplative mariner, as in mid-ocean he looked down upon
Its gentle bosom, continued to experience sentiments akin to those which
fill tire mind of the devout astronomer when in the stillness of the night
he looks out upon the stars and wonders.”- — Maury.
HERE is no more imposing spectacle than that
JL afforded by the sea. In watching the ceaseless
motion of the waves, which roll gently upon the shore, and
the restless undulation of the billows, which chase one
another with a plaintive murmur, we can well understand
how the inventive imagination of man should have per¬
sonified this mass of inert matter ; and we sympathise with
Schleiden, when, in his poetic language, he has compared
the motion of the waves to a gentle respiration. The
observer looks towards the distant horizon ; and the liquid
circle with which he is surrounded often melts so insensibly
into the vapoury distance, that sea and sky become united
and blend into one.
4
WONDERS OF WATER.
Extent.
(l On the globe/’ says Michelet, “ ocean is the rule, earth
the exception.” It is by no means easy to estimate exactly
the superficial extent of the sea : the slow movements of
the ground, which rises and falls ; the waves, which are in¬
cessantly abrading the rocky shores ; the coral banks which
daily increase in the bosom of the sea, and rise to its surface,
constantly modify the line of coast, and produce a change
in the relative proportion of land to water. It is, how¬
ever, clearly ascertained that the sea covers at least two-
thirds of the surface of the globe. The sea is veiy unequally
distributed over the globe, the southern hemisphere being
far more abundantly provided with water than the northern.
Thus the terrestrial globe may be roughly divided into two
halves, one being looked upon as the region of the sea,
and the other as that of the dry land.
Depth.
“We perceive as many inequalities in the depth of the eea, as on the
surface of the earth.” — Buffon.
During many centuries the most confused ideas prevailed
on the subject of the depth of the sea, and the early
nations beheld in the vast unknown oceans an impassable
barrier — a gulf, without bottom and without shore.
The operation of sounding the sea is attended with great
difficulties. The line is continually drawn aside by sub¬
marine currents, so that even when the lead has reached
the bottom the line continues to run out. Some ingenious
machines have, however, been invented capable of over¬
coming these difficulties, and accurate measurements have
THE OCEAN.
5
been made by several competent navigators. Brooke’s line
is that which has given the most satisfactory results ; after
having touched the bottom of the sea, it brings back
fig. i. — brooke’s invention for deep-sea sounding.
specimens of the greatest value to science.* A ball of
70 lbs. weight is pierced with a hole, through which passes
* It is in the plateau of the Atlantic that Brooke’s invention brought
the first specimens from the bottom of the sea. Though in appearance:
6
WONDERS OF WATER-
a loose iron rod, terminated at its lower end by a cylin¬
drical cavity. As soon as the rod reaches the bottom the
ball is detached by a simple contrivance, while the rod
is easily brought up again to the surface. Fig. i shows
on the left the line before it has reached the bottom, and
on the right the ball when it has been detached and the rod
is about to be raised. The mean depth of the ocean,
according to Humboldt, is nearly two miles ; according to
Young, the mean depth of the Atlantic Ocean is about half
a mile, and that of the Pacific about two miles and a half.
Not far from the shores of the United States, Lieutenant
Walsh paid out a vertical line six miles long. This fact
is at variance with some calculations of Laplace, who,
founding his opinion on the influence exercised upon our
planet by the sun and moon, considers it to be impossible
for the depth of the sea to exceed five miles.
It has, however, been proved by unquestionable evidence
that in some localities the ocean attains immense depths,
which, occasionally surpass the height of some of the
loftiest mountains of India and America. Sometimes, also,
the ocean covers the earth with only a thin layer of water.
At the mouth of the Po the sea’s depth does not much
exceed 50 yards, while the bottom of the Baltic is never
more than 220 yards deep. The dome of the Pantheon at
Paris would rise above the level of the Straits of Dover, and
the shallowness of the Strait which separates France from
earthy, the matter raised seemed to be composed of a number of micro¬
scopic shells in perfect preservation, belonging to the group of the Fora-
miniferæ — animal forms of a low type. In the Indian Ocean, spiculæ
of sponge have been found at a depth of upwards of two miles. L
is evident therefore that in the depths of the sea are to be found bodies
of various kinds.
THE OCEAN.
7
Great Britain encourages the hope that the two countries
may be, ere long, united by a submarine tunnel. It will not
be long before science gives us still more intimate and
accurate information on the subject of the depth of the ocean ;
and Maury, the celebrated director of the Observatory of
Washington, has already constructed an admirable orographic
chart of the basin of the Atlantic. On this chart the
darkest shading represents a depth of upwards of four miles,
and the lighter shades show the gradually decreasing depth.
A vertical section of the basin of the Atlantic, shows us
how hilly and uneven is the ground which lies beneath the
waste of waters.
If the sea were to retreat from this vast trench, leaving
bare the terrestrial surface, what relics would not be dis¬
closed amid the ripples of the shallow water ! “ There/’
says Maury, “ would be brought to light that array of dead
men’s skulls, great anchors, heaps of pearl, which in the
poet’s eye lie scattered at the bottom of the sea, making it
hideous with sights of ugly death.” The bottom of the sea
is formed of mountains and of valleys, of table-lands, ravines,
and hills. Our continents are, in point of fact, nothing more
than the unimmersed summits of these mountains. The
waters, in obedience to the law of gravity, collect by reason
of their mobility in large basins, and spread themselves over
the lower portions of the terrestrial surface. If the surface
of the globe, instead of being rugged and uneven, were as
smooth and uniform as a ball of ivory, the sea would en¬
tirely cover it with a layer of about 219 yards in thickness.
The area of water which covers to a large extent the surface
of the globe is considerable, relatively to the area of the
land ; but the volume of the water is very small, when com¬
pared with the whole mass of our planet. If we divide the
8
WONDERS OF WATER.
entire globe into 1,786 portions of equal weight, one of
those portions will give the total weight of the waters of
the sea.
Colour.
Sea water, if enclosed in a bottle, appears colourless ; but
seen from the shore it is generally of a beautiful green, and
when viewed from a greater distance it assumes an azure
hue. The Polar Seas are, according to Scoresby, of an
ultramarine tint ; the Mediterranean is sky blue (Costaz) ;
and the poets themselves would find it difficult to describe
the exquisite effects of colour in the Bay of Naples, when
the rays of the sun cause the waves to sparkle with a thousand
fires, like those of the sapphire and the emerald. The Black
Sea owes its name to its frequent tempests ; the White Sea,
to its masses of floating ice.
The natural hue of the waters is frequently modified by
the presence of animal and vegetable life. Thus the Polar
Seas are at times streaked with millions of medusae, the
yellow shade of which, in combination with the blue of the
water, produces green. Certain portions of the sea become
at times as white as milk, while in other cases they present
the hue of blood. These singular phenomena, which were
described by ancient authors, are due to the myriads of
algæ which float upon the waves, and modify their colour.
The Red Sea has frequently presented the appearance of a
sea of blood. In July, 1843, for two days the natural
colour of the waves disappeared beneath a layer of car¬
mine. Analogous facts have come at various times under
the observation of mariners in many places. The sailors
• of the ship La Crcde saw, in 1845, ^ie waters of the
THE OCEAN.
9
Atlantic covered with a purple mantle, which extended over
a surface of six square miles. These accidental colourations
were for many centuries a source of terror to the super¬
stitious ; but men have now ceased to behold in the for¬
tuitous apparition of microscopic algæ floating on the surface
of the water, signs of the anger of Heaven, or presages of
coming calamities.
The black mud and the yellow sand, which in some
places carpet the bottom of the sea, modify the apparent
colour of transparent and shallow water, especially when
the sea is viewed from an elevated position. The state of
the sky is also a cause of variation ; and the sea may be
looked upon as a vast mirror, changing its aspect according
to the images which are reflected from it. Black and sombre
when thick clouds hide the rays of the sun, the sea attires
itself with a thousand sparkling fires when the vault of the
firmament is transparent and azure.
It is probable, however, that water has a colour of its
own, which appears to be either blue or green. In this
respect it resembles the air, colourless when seen through a
limited thickness, but blue when the eye penetrates its
depths. Could we descend into the ocean, we should see
the emerald shades disappear, the light of day would fade
gradually, we would penetrate into gloomy twilight, and at
length become buried beneath thick darkness.
During the night the sea is often radiant with a strange
lustre. The white foam is replaced by fiery bands ; each
wave in rolling over shines with a mysterious brilliancy.
'These phenomena are the effect of an infinitude of animal-
culæ, which illumine the undulations of the waves while
the stars are lighting up the expanse of heaven. Nothing
is more striking than this spectacle, which is manifested
WONDERS OF WATER.
IO
under the most varied aspects on the surface of the Southern
Ocean. Mariners tell of enormous balls of fire which appear
to roll over the waves, of moving cones of light, of garlands,
of glittering serpents, and of shining clouds, which wander
over the waves in the midst of the darkness. The phenome¬
non is here complicated by some optical effects, which, with
the nocturnal movements of phosphorescent animals, explains
all these marvels. The sea is not a vast liquid desert ; there
is not a single drop of water inaccessible to the manifestations
of life ; and in the ocean the prodigious fecundity of nature
finds its highest development.
Temperature.
d'he ocean is divided into three immense thermic basins,
the two first being situated at the poles, while the third,
lying midway between the two others, is situated near the
equator. The temperature of the sea, heated by the action
of the solar rays under the equator, is tolerably high at the
surface; but at a depth of 1,200 fathoms it sinks down to
40. The further we go from the equator, so much nearer
to the surface do we find this temperature of 40. At a
certain distance from the equator there appears to exist all
round the globe a zone in which the temperature of the
ocean is constant and uniform in all depths. As we recede
from this limit, and approach either of the poles, we find a
lowering of the level of uniform temperature ; and at the
latitude of 70° this level is at a depth of 750 fathoms.
Round the poles the surface of the water is frozen, and
formidable icebergs float over the polar sea during the
whole year. (Fig. 2.)
* Throughout this volume the temperatures are expressed in t’:e
centigrade scale.
FIG. 2. — ICEBERGS.
THE OCEAX.
13
Scenes really magical break the monotony of these Arctic
regions, where a whole architecture of ice presents itself to
the dazzled gaze of the traveller. Light gusts of wind
appear to impart a gentle motion to the transparent pin¬
nacles and the floating porticoes, when, lo ! the whole
disappears as if beneath an enchanter’s wand, to reappear
under new forms. And though but little of vegetation
bears witness to the vitality of the earth, or charms the eye,
the sky produces pictures of the most thrilling beauty. Yet
at what cost does the voyager behold all this strange
loveliness ? It is necessary in order to see it that he
should endure the long nights of the Arctic winter, and that
he should live in the midst of frightful solitudes, hidden
under a pall of thick darkness ; while the doleful sounds
made by the icebergs, as they dash against one another and
become broken, suggest to his mind unpleasant presenti¬
ments. Terrible indeed it is when the sun, from which we
derive both heat and life, is no longer to be seen above the
horizon-
CHAPTER II.
THE .MOTION OF THE SEA - SUPERFICIAL AGITATION.
HE water of the sea is in ceaseless agitation ; its surface
X obeys the impulses of the wind, and its waves strike
continuously against the rocky shore. Looking upon this
incessant struggle between land and water, this irrecon¬
cilable strife betwixt liquid and solid, it might seem as
though inert matter, jealous of organised being, strove to imi¬
tate the activity of life. Whilst gazing upon the waves which
dash against the cliffs, we feel inclined to question whether
this heaving mass be really only an inorganic element ; we
feel tempted to believe that a breath of life causes this
movement in these never-resting waves, and animates a being
which has its moments of anger and of calm, and of which
the voice, now sweet and harmonious, can anon become
menacing as the cries that escape from an oppressed bosom.
The waves of the sea, majestic and tranquil, are at times
subject to the most terrible convulsions. When violently
agitated by the wind, the waves pursue one another ; they
rise and fall in torrents of foam, and during great storms
mariners have seen waves attain a height of thirty-six
feet. Whilst dashing against the rocks of the shore, they
THE MOTION OF THE SEA.
move with a startling rapidity, and acquire an irresist¬
ible force. These convulsions of the sea are never felt
at a depth of more than 660 feet, and nature has thus
provided for the safety of the myriads of living creatures
that people the ocean, in permitting them always to find at
a certain distance beneath the level of the waters a calm and
quiet retreat.
Gigantic waves are to be met with in almost all seas.
Near the coasts they give birth to breakers, which are a
just object of dread to mariners, and at the mouths of rivers
they produce what are called bores. The last phenomenon
assumes enormous proportions on the American shores,
where the largest fluvial arteries of the world are discharged
into the sea. At the period of spring tides, nothing is
more terrible than the struggle between the waves of the sea
and the current of the Amazon. The whole breadth of the
river is overrun by one tremendous wave, fourteen feet in
height, causing a noise which is heard at a great distance.
All obstacles are thrown down or destroyed, trees are up¬
rooted or snapped in two, and everything swept away from
the bank to a distance of 200 yards.
Certain agitations of the waves produce, in other parts,
the not less formidable phenomena of whirlpools. Among
the whirlpools of the sea, the most celebrated is the
maelstrom. According to ancient tradition, this was a gulf
perpetually roaring, always yawning to swallow up any ship
which may venture too near its formidable jaws. It is
right, however, to add that the dangers of the maelstrom
have been grossly exaggerated. Some marine currents,
undoubtedly dangerous to sailing vessels, have given rise to
the fable, which modern seamen have entirely discredited.
i6
WONDERS OF WATER.
The Tides.
“If the waters offer matter of wonderment to our sight, it is mainly
in the spectacle of the ebb and flow of the sea.” — Pliny.
The waves are the caprices of the sea. They vary ac¬
cording to localities, following the impetus of the wind,
and are not governed by any force which is constant in its
effects. But the sea is endowed with other and more regular
movements. Our globe is isolated in the immensity of the
universe, but it is not solitary. Ever subject to the influence
of those bodies which people space, it yields to their attrac¬
tion; it is cn rapport With the skies ! Just as the sunflower is
said to look up to the sun, and to turn her face towards him, so,
twice a day, the ocean swells her bosom towards the power¬
ful attraction of the sun and the moon. The combined action
of these two bodies draws daily round the globe the immense
waves which rise to their utmost heights at the periods of
new and full moon. During six months of the year, the
highest tides occur in the day-time ; and during the other six
months, at night. At these periods the waves encroach upon
the shore, and bathe those parts which are usually free from
contact with the waters. The highest spring tides rise in
the open sea through an altitude not exceeding three feet
from high water to low water, but as the waves approach the
seaboard of the continents, which appear to oppose barriers to
their invasion, they increase considerably, and sometimes rise
even through a height of sixty-five feet above the level of
low-water. All seas are subject to this marvellous influence
of the tides. Everywhere beneath the empire of the waves
the ebb and flow depresses and elevates the liquid surface.
Incessantly opposed and modified by the shape of the coasts,
by headlands, by currents, by the force of the winds, the
THE MOTION OF THE SEA.
17
action of the tides is most felt in straits, and in gulfs ; thus
some of the highest tides are met with in the Gulf of St. Malo,
in the English Channel. Their vertical height is fifty-six feet
off the island of Ushant ; forty-nine feet between Jersey and
St. Malo. In America the tide rises from forty to sixty feet
in the Bay of Fundy. In the polar regions, Franklin has
ascertained that the tide never rises above twenty inches, and
sometimes only three inches.
It has often been affirmed that the waters of the Me¬
diterranean are not subject to the oscillations of the tide.
This assertion has been disproved by observations which
have been made at Toulon, at Venice, and at Algiers — in
which places the existence of ebb and flow has been ob¬
served. In all seas of small extent, the tides have but
slight, that is to say, but slight perceptible influence. This
fact is very easily explained ; when the tide is high in one
part of the ocean, it is low at a distance of 90 degrees, and
the liquid prominence is only formed at the expense of
the depressed waters — in lakes of small extent this is im¬
possible, and the presence of a tide cannot therefore be
detected. These facts often presented as an objection to
the Newtonian theory of tides, are rather a confirmation of
the doctrine.
The tides purify and wash our shores, they cleanse and
sweep over our ports; tire currents which result from tides
disencumber our roadsteads of the mud which loads them,
and clear the mouths of rivers. We feel in the approach
of the tide the salutary effects of a freshness pure and
vivifying. The undulations of the ocean, those powerful,
pulsations of the water, are produced by bodies which
are separated from our planet by thousands of miles, yet
have the tides not less mathematical regularity than that
c
i3
WONDERS OF WATER.
which directs these planetary bodies themselves. At a
fixed hour the formidable masses of water upraised by an
invisible agency, rise and approach the shore. They advance,
they precipitate themselves with a resistless power only to
stop gently at a certain moment, without passing the boun¬
dary which nature has indicated. Is it not to the credit of
the human race, to have become able to calculate the
exact moment, in which the oscillations of the sea begin
and end ?
The Currents.
There exist in the sea immense currents, which may be
regarded as veritable rivers in the bosom of ocean. Mem¬
bers of a great arterial system, they play a highly important
part in the harmonies of the globe. They establish a kind of
interchange between the extreme temperatures of different
climates, transporting towards the poles the warmer water
o the tropics, and carrying the cold water of the glacial
region towards the torrid countries of the equator.
Christopher Columbus was one of the first to record ob¬
servations on the marine currents ; he recognised, after his
second voyage, that the waters of certain parts of the
Atlantic followed the apparent motion of the stars. “ The
waters/’ says the great navigator, “ march with the sky.”
The physical geography of the ocean is a science which
is still in its infancy; the initiative step in its development
has been recently taken by Commander Maury, and it is
only through his labours that the course taken by any of
the marine currents has been accurately determined.
Between the tropics, in all seas, we meet with equatorial
THE MOTION OF THE SEA.
19
currents travelling from east to west ; but the most powerful
and best known of all currents is the Gulf Stream.
The Gulf Stream is a prolongation of the equatorial
current of the Atlantic, of which the origin still remains in
obscurity. This equatorial current, after having washed
Western Africa, veers round, and proceeds across to America.
some distance from the coast one branch of the current
oecomes detached, descends towards the south, and forms
the Brazilian current. The main artery goes northward,
coasts along Guiana, receives into its bosom the waters of
the Amazon and the Orinoco, and penetrates at last into
the Gulf of Mexico.
When the equatorial current escapes from this gulf, it
receives the name of the Gulf Stream. It passes through the
Straits of Florida in a majestic current, upwards of thirty
miles broad, 2,200 feet deep, with an average velocity of four
miles per hour ; and its waters are warm and salt, of an
indigo blue, which contrasts with its green banks, formed by
the waves of the sea.
Compressed between two liquid walls, the waters of
the Gulf Stream form a moving body, which glides over the
empire of the sea. It is a vast river in the midst of ocean.
“ In the severest droughts,” says Maury, “ it never fails,
and in the mightiest floods it never overflows. Its banks
and its bottom are of cold water. There is in the world
no other such majestic flow of waters. Its current is more
rapid than the Mississippi or the Amazon, and its volume
more than a thousand times greater.”
With the aid of the thermometer the navigator can follow
this great liquid artery ; the instrument, plunged alternately
near its edges or in its centre, will indicate temperatures
differing 15 degrees. Powerful and rapid, the Gulf Stream
c 2
20
WONDERS OF WATER.
pursues its way in a northerly direction, following the shores
of the United States as far as the banks of Newfoundland.
It then has to sustain a terrible shock from a polar current,
which drifts along enormous icebergs, absolute mountains
of ice. The Gulf Stream, with its warm and rapid waters,
dissolves the floating ice, the icebergs become broken, and
earth, gravel, and even fragments of rock, which they carry
along with them, are swallowed up by the sea. The in¬
fusoria and other animalculæ which swarm in the Gulf
Stream, collect upon these fragments of stone. The rocks,
earthy matter, debris of every description, are piled up
together. They gradually rise, and will one day pass over
the ocean level and form islands. It is in this way that the
banks of Newfoundland have already been formed. But in
this fierce contest the Gulf Stream is vanquished. It is broken
by the impetuous shock, and becomes subdivided into several
currents ; one of these flows northward, melts the ice of
Norway, and mitigates the rigours of the climate. It even
possesses sufficient vigour to advance as far as Iceland, and
casts upon the coasts of that island the trunks of trees, and
fragments of wood, which it has borne from the shores of
die New World. The Gulf Stream supplies the only fuel
which the Icelanders, frozen as they are at the foot of a
volcano, are able to obtain. The right arm of the Gulf
Stream flows eastward, and directs its course to the British
Islands, which it surrounds with what may be termed a mild
and genial liquid girdle. It softens the climate of Scotland,
and improves its vegetation ; a portion of the current enters
the English Channel, and enables the fig-tree to flourish in
Brittany. Without this genial current, which dispenses so
widely the blessings of a mild temperature, Scotland would
have the climate of Siberia, which, situated beneath the
THE MOTION OF THE SEA.
2 I
same latitude, has, in winter, to endure cold of 20 degrees
below zero. Without the same soft influence, the winters
of Brittany would be no longer so mild as they are.
During the winter, landing on the shores of the United
States is sometimes difficult and dangerous. On this coast
the mariner is exposed to storms of snow and gales of
cutting wind, which severely try his courage and experience.
Masses of ice surround the ship, a freezing mist benumbs the
crew, the rudder becomes fixed, and frozen, and its manage¬
ment is a hard and perilous task ; disaster seems imminent,
but the Gulf Stream is at hand to bring help to the mariner
in his need. If he makes haste to steer his vessel into the
tepid waters of the stream, he will see, as if by enchantment,
summer succeed to winter, and the melting ice fall gradually
off. The sailor finds his energies recruited by the reviving
warmth, and, thanks to the generous current, he will reach
his destined port.
The Gulf Stream exercises a vast influence upon meteor¬
ology: violent gales and squalls frequently follow in its track.
The waves of this mighty current are often agitated by
tempests, excited by terrible cyclones. The waves are
especially formidable when the wind blows in a direction
contrary to that of the Gulf Stream, and it often happens
that the atmospheric currents traverse for great distances
along the course described by this body of warm water.
In the vast liquid triangle formed by the Azores, the
canaries, and the Cape de V erd Islands, in the centre of the
great oceanic circuit of which the Grilf Stream forms a part,
are to be found, in a tract of many thousand square miles,
such a quantity of marine plants that the progress of ships
is frequently obstructed. The companions of Columbus,
alarmed at this obstacle, and astonished at the sight of so
22
WONDERS OF WATER.
abundant a vegetation, imagined themselves to have reached
the extreme limits of the navigable world.
This accumulation of algæ is also due to the marine
currents ; in fact, the Atlantic is an immense basin, in the
midst of which the gulf weed constitutes the Sargassum sea.
It can be shown by a simple experiment how nature can
accomplish this phenomenon. Place some light substances,
such as pieces of cork, in a basin full of water, give the
water a circular motion, and the floating objects will imme¬
diately collect in the centre of the liquid surface. The
Sargassum sea is not, however, a phenomenon peculiar to
the Atlantic, as it is to be found more or less in all great
oceans.
A warm current follows the shores of China and Japan,
which the Japanese geographers have known for centuries,
and it can be found marked on many ancient charts. In
the southern seas, the currents are much less perfectly
developed, and comparatively little is known with reference
to them.
It is probable that the marine rivers are not mere isolated
currents, but parts of a great network ; the individual veins
of one vast system of circulation. The existence of these
systems is often indicated by tracing the history of corked
bottles which have been carried by the currents Several of
these little floating buoys left out at sea off the coast of
Africa, have been found again, after many years, near the
shores of Scotland. The cocos de mer of the Seychelles
are carried along by marine currents, which, after having
borne them for a voyage of four hundred leagues, deposit
them in safety on the shores of Malabar. Here they take
root, and thus live and grow far away from the country
which gave them birth. The Hindoos believe that the ocean
THE MOTION OF THE SEA. 23
nourishes in its depths the marvellous trees which produce
this enormous fruit.
The great current which flows from the eastern coast of
South America, has drifted from Guiana and Brazil no less
than thirteen species of plants as far as Congo. Certain
other seeds, provided with a covering impervious to water,
though tossed by the waves and rocked by the storm
retain their vitality after vast voyages. The fruits of the
cocoa-nut tree, and the pods of the mimosa, are snatched
from the soil of equatorial America by these rivers of the sea,
which afterwards cast them upon the rocks of Scandinavia,
where the want of heat prevents their development.
These marine currents render signal service to navigation ;
and, thanks to the facilities which they give, we can ac¬
complish certain voyages much more rapidly than was
possible before we understood their movements.
But the highest use of the marine currents is to equalise
the temperatures of the globe, in which they act like the pipes
of a mighty heating apparatus, conveying warm water from
the torrid zone. They seem as if, to use Michelet’s ex¬
pression, they were desirous of offering “ consolation to the
frigid pole,” by passing into it a stream of warmth and life
to combat its icy coldness. A few examples may suffice to
explain the influence of these marine currents in equalising,
the temperatures of the globe. New York is situated in
nearly the same latitude as Lisbon, but the climate of the
great American city is much less mild than that of the
Portuguese capital, in which oranges grow. A map of the
marine currents shows that a liquid artery, intensely cold
because it comes from the pole, bathes and chills the shores
)f America. That branch of the Gulf Stream which skirts
the coast of Norway, clothes the Norwegian fiords with a
24
WONDERS OF WATER.
carpet of green, while the Baltic and the White Sea, situ¬
ated beneath the same latitude, have a much colder climate.
The tracing out of these currents, so long ignored, is one
of the proudest conquests of science, a fruitful victory
which offers to the thinker a vast held for study and medi¬
tation. It is a discovery invaluable to the navigator,
who, when in the immensity of ocean, can now find
tracks which can help to guide him through the wide
expanse.
Duperrey, Berghaus, Petermann, and more recently
Maury, have prepared admirable charts of the ocean. The
velocities of those currents which furrow the fluid portion
of the globe, are represented, with the direction of their
course. The various temperatures are also indicated. The
mariner, furnished with this atlas, is armed with new re¬
sources, which permit him to risk more hopefully the fortune
which he confides to the uncertain waves.* The fisherman,
also, has gained thereby much useful information, and can
often find his way to the quarters favourable to his craft,
by following the indications afforded by the temperature
of the water. He must never, for instance, enter into the
currents of warmer water if he wishes to invade the terri¬
tories of the whale, for that huge animal only exists in cold
regions. The torrid zone arrests his rambles like a wall
of flame.
In the Indian and Pacific oceans, and, indeed, every¬
where in the sea, liquid currents furrow the surface of the
water ; but the great circulation is not only superficial.
Submarine currents traverse all parts of the sea, in the
* In order to travel by sea from New York to California, 160 days
were formerly required. Now, owing principally to our acquaintance
with the currents, the same trip occupies but 145 days.
THE MOTION OF THE SEA.
2 5
bosom of which immense hidden arteries ramify in unknown
directions.
In the middle of the Atlantic, Lieutenants Walsh and
Lee, of the American Navy, having fastened to a fishing-
line a block of wood charged with lead, dropped it into the
sea to a depth of about half a mile. The apparatus was
then left to the mercy of the waves, after having been pro¬
vided with a float, in order to prevent its sinking to the
bottom. It was a truly singular spectacle to see the float
advancing against the wind, and sea, and current, with an
average velocity of one knot per hour. The boatmen
could not suppress their astonishment ; it seemed to them
as if some marine monster must be bearing the block along.
An English officer, when crossing the Straits of Sunda in an
open canoe, found himself carried away by a current. He
threw into the water a bucket, loaded with a weight, which
he caused to sink to a great depth, holding, at the same
time, this novel species of anchor by a cord. It was not
long before the boat became borne along in an opposite
direction to that of the surface current. A submarine
stream had, in fact, carried the bucket with such force as
to overcome the surface current.
What facts there are in the history of the ocean which
for ages remained unsuspected. What enigmas lie buried
in that ever-moving mass. What problems to solve ; what
observations to follow up; what experiments to try, in
order to unveil all the forces which set in motion the
mechanism of the waves.
What sets in motion this mighty marine circulation ? Is
it due, as some assert, to the impetus of wind, and if not
A’hat is the cause ?
The agitation of the air produces the superficial agitation
26
WONDERS OF WATER.
of the waves ; but how can the submarine streams, not thus
affected by the wind, be set in motion ? *
The vast wave produced by the tides occasions, no doubt,
a vertical motion ; but it is impossible that from this cause
should be derived the movement of the Gulf Stream. The
prime mover of the great oceanic machine is to be sought
elsewhere. Where, then, is the secret power hidden ?
Whence comes the first impulse ? Heat is the most obvious
cause of marine circulation ; but heat would not be capable
of producing marine currents were it not for the salt which
is dissolved in the water. In fact, salt is one of the chief
factors in producing the circulation of the sea. So abundant
is this ingredient, that were all the salt in the ocean collected
and placed upon America, it would cover that vast con¬
tinent with a layer 4,500 feet thick.
Evaporation carries daily from the equatorial seas enor¬
mous quantities of water, which rise into the air in the
form of clouds. The superficial layers, rendered more
saline by the evaporation and removal of fresh water,
become denser and descend, to be replaced by lower strata
of less specific gravity. Thus movement is produced. In
the lower strata of the water there is at the same time a
movement of the denser waters from the equatorial regions
towards the poles.
It has been suggested that the motive power of some cur¬
rents may reside in the infinitesimally small beings which
* There exist in the sea a great number of periodical and accidental
currents, which derive their origin from tire action of the winds ; but
Ave are not now speaking of these variable agitations. Among the
periodical currents may be mentioned those which, from the 15th of
May to the 15th of August, traverse the China Sea from east toAvest, and
in the opposite direction from October to March.
THE MOTION OF THE SEA.
27
people ocean. The madrepores are minute creatures, which,
atoms as they are in the kingdom of Nature, may yet be
of indispensable utility in her machinery.
These microscopic animals form gigantic coral reefs.
Each joins its own minute handiwork to the completed
work of the others. They secrete calcareous atoms, which
become welded together, and increase so as to form archi¬
pelagoes, — perhaps, in time, to form the basis of large islands,
or even continents.
Each one of these little creatures requires nourishment.
It extracts from a drop of water the material necessary for
its subsistence. It draws from the sea the calcareous matter
which it requires. Thus the action of these minute animals
reduces the weight of the water. The water, thus become
lighter, is then set in motion by the pressure of the mole¬
cules that surround it. Each tiny being gives individually
but a very feeble impetus — it is the impetus imparted by an
atom. But the agency of the animalculæ is due to their
united action. “Unity is strength,” says the old proverb;
and these zoophytes prove the truth of the maxim, by the
enormous labours they achieve.
How are we to set down in figures, says Maury, the
quantity of solid matter thus daily extracted from the sea ?
Does it amount to tens of thousands, or thousands of
millions of tons ? This is a question impossible to answer ;
but whatever the amount may be, the effect produced on
the motion of the water is immediate ; and we see that a
species of animal, devoid of locomotion, the life of which
is scarcely distinguishable from that of a plant, seems to be
mdued with a power which may be adequate to originate an
ocean current.
Thus these streams of the sea, of which the track is followed
28
WONDERS OF WATER.
by navigators in the midst of the vast ocean, — these currents,
of which the source is frequently equally involved in mystery
with their final issue, — these hidden arteries within the bosom
of ocean, — this circulation, so irresistible, so vast, so imposing
in its immensity, is notably set in motion by the heat of
the sun, which by evaporation increases the proportion of
salt in the upper layers of the sea ; and possibly in some
cases also by these imperceptible beings, which are inces¬
santly at work in the ocean’s depths.
ACTION OF WAVES ON ROCK.
CHAPTER III.
THE DESTRUCTIVE AND FORMATIVE ACTION OF WATER.
HE waves wear away rocky shores, cut, hew, and shape
X the coast, waste and eat away the land ; they dash
against the feet of lofty cliffs, and daily encroach upon them
by the landslips which are produced. Sometimes the waves
cut, separate, and excavate rocks, thus giving birth to fantastic
constructions bearing the impress of a style altogether
unique — a grotesque order of architecture. (Fig. 3.) Let
us quote a passage from a great author, who paints in magic
colours the spectacle which this sea-built architecture offers
to us : — “These structures,” says Victor Hugo, “possess the
sublimity of the cathedral, the extravagance of the pagoda,
the amplitude of the mountain, the delicacy of the gem, the
horror of the sepulchre.”
The condition of maritime countries offer us numberless
examples of the ravages and sharp modifications to which
their shores have been subject, owing to the action of the
sea. We can find striking proofs of this in the formation
of the Zuyder Zee, in the curious effects which have
modified in all parts the aspect of those islands which lie
WONDERS OF WATER.
between the Texel and the mouths of the Elbe, in the
indentations of the winding shores of the Cattegat and
in the recesses of Lymfiord. Creeks and gulfs have
been in the lapse of ages, produced under the potent in¬
fluence of the waters. In other places we find the waves
heaping up banks of sand and pebbles on the sea-shore, and
anon destroying their own creations, causing the vast erec¬
tions to disappear, to which the waves themselves have given
birth .
The action of the waves does not merely exert its influence
over a loose soil, but is felt by the hardest and most solid
rocks. HowTever abrupt and resisting be the shore, it is still
gained upon by the irresistible element. Nothing is suf¬
ficiently strong to escape the army of waves, and the land is
always defeated in its contest with the sea. She only triumphs
when she avoids a battle, like Fabius with Hannibal. If
she offers to the sea a flat and uniform seaboard, the waves
advance gently up to the shore, and their wrath is appeased.
Before an enemy who attempts no resistance, they lose their
impetuous force, and quietly lay at her feet round stones and
fine sand — creating more than they destroy.
The natural configuration of coasts is favourable to the
action of the waves, when the stratifications of the soil offer
to the sea superimposed layers, of which the lower part —
continually attacked by the liquid element, everlastingly
shaken by the reiterated influence of the waves — is removed
the quicker from some special facility with which the material
can be disintegrated. The upper layers menacingly overhang,
and form frowning prominences, which, ere long, precipitate
themselves into the sea. (Fig. 4.)
Of all the shores beaten by the tempest, there are none
which present a more imposing appearance, or give a more
fig. 4.— undermining action of waves (quiberon)
DESTRUCTIVE AND FORMATIVE ACTION. 35
vivid idea of the power of the waves, than do the fiords of
Northern Europe and of America. These fiords are deep
bays, long and narrow indentations, which leave between
them vast rocky peninsulas. We might liken such coasts to
an enormous fringe, of which every thread is a peninsula.
So high is the escarpment of these coasts, that Mount
Thorsnuten, situated to the south of Bergen, attains at one
spot on the shore a height of 5,200 feet. In a great number
of these bays cascades and waterfalls descend from the sum¬
mits of the cliffs and rush into space, forming on their way
a parabola, beneath which fishing-boats have free room to
pass.
It has taken the ocean perhaps many thousand years to
•chisel all these marvels and to sculpture these rocky laby¬
rinths, and it is possible that deluges and earthquakes have,
at various epochs, aided in their formation ; but, even in our
own day, at every hour, at every instant, the sea is dealing
its blows against the coast. On the summit of a lofty cliff
the observer can, in the midst of the tempest, obtain a good
idea of the encroachments which are made by the fury of
the waves. The billows rush against the shore. Blocks of
stone shake from base to summit. The work of demolition
can be seen by glimpses through clouds of spray and
foam.
When once a calm has succeeded to the tempest, and
agitation gives place to repose, it becomes possible to
measure the inroads of the sea, to note the advance of ocean,
and to calculate the weight of the rocks which the waves
have crushed. During seven centuries the waters of the
Channel have invaded 4,500 feet of land, and the cliffs,
which now tower over these shores, have consequently
receded nearly a mile since the period when Peter the
d 2
WONDERS OF WATER.
Hermit preached the first crusade. The Straits of Dover
widen day by day.
We have already remarked that the inclination of strata
opposed or assisted the action of the waves ; the hardness
of rocks and the chemical composition of their molecules
also cause variations in the rate at which they are worn
away.
The cliffs do not resist the efforts of the ocean merely by
the hardness of their materials. They often take the pre¬
caution of clothing their bases in armour, by way of defence
against the repeated attacks of their enemy. An abundant
vegetation of algæ and marine herbs carpets every fissure ol
the rocks with a fantastic covering of hair.
Where the waves are sufficiently powerful, enormous blocks
detach themselves from elevated strata ; they become broken
by the shock of their fall, and are swept away by the waters,
which retire and seem as if taking a new impetus before
recommencing the attack. The rocks become broken into
small fragments, and ultimately are rounded into pebbles;
and the heaps of debris thus raised afterwards protect the
rocks from which they have been torn, and produce the
shelving banks which put a stop to the conquests of the
sea. Might we not liken them to so many corpses heaped
round the fortress, whence the enemy has succeeded in
forcing them ?
On the shore of the Mediterranean, near Vintimiglia, and
also on the coast of Brittany, there is to be seen a mass of
ruins of this description, which resist the efforts of the waves.
(Fig. 5.) Examples need not be added, everywhere we find
the sea busied in levelling the cliffs ; it lowers the promon¬
tories and heights of the coast, and deposits their dust at
the bottom of its vast empire.
MASS OF DEBRIS PROTECTING ROCKS (FECAMP).
DESTRUCTIVE AND FORMATIVE ACTION.
39
Reproductive Effects.
If the action of the waves exercised merely a destructive
effect, it must ultimately be followed by a complete annihila¬
tion of continents ; but the sea repairs to some extent the
ravages which it has caused. The waves break down
and comminute the rocks on the seashore ; but the
debris thus made is not lost; it is transported to other
places, where it forms superimposed layers. The quantity
of solid matter held in suspension by the currents of the
sea is so considerable that, in order to raise the level of
the soil in certain districts, the water carried up by the tide
is caused to flow upon the land. By frequently repeating
the operation, large estates which border on the Delta
of the Humber have been elevated six feet. The tides
fill up in this way the cavities and hollow places which cor¬
rugate the bottom of the ocean, by means of the sediment
which they discharge into them.
At the upper end of the Red Sea it has constantly been
remarked that the Isthmus of Suez has increased in size with
extraordinary rapidity, owing to oceanic deposits. This
isthmus, as we are told by Sir Charles Lyell, has doubled in
width since the time of Herodotus. At that period, the
town of Hieropolis stood on the seashore ; in our day it is
as far from the Red Sea as from the Mediterranean. It
is situated exactly in the middle of the isthmus. In
1541, Soliman II. found in the port of Suez a valuable
harbour of refuge, capable of giving shelter to his entire
fleet. Now an immense bank of sand has replaced the
channels of which his vessels availed themselves. In eighteen
hundred years, the territory of Tehama, situated on the
40
WONDERS OF WATER.
Gulf of Arabia, has received from the sea a tribute of two
leagues of soil in sediment, which has gradually increased
from age to age. If we penetrate further from the shore
into the land, we find at a certain distance from the existing
sea-ports, the ruins of ancient ports, which flourished long
ago, under the same names, and the remains of their walls,
once washed by the sea, serve now as obstacles to the in¬
vading progress of the desert sands. One part of the delta
of the Nile is day by day encroached upon by a powerful
current of the Mediterranean, and the waves carry to a con¬
siderable distance the valuable loam drifted along by the
earthy stream. They transport the solid matter as far as the
shores of Syria.
M. Girard, an eminent man of science, who, at the time
of the French expedition into Egypt, was commissioned to
make investigations as to the remains of the canal of Amrou,
is of opinion that the whole isthmus of Suez is of oceanic
formation, and considers it as a vast dam, constructed by the
marine currents. Although, indeed, this opinion is open to
objections, it is none the less certain that that isthmus, now
become celebrated from the works which have been so suc¬
cessfully carried out there by one of the most able intellects
of modern times, constantly increases in width, in conse¬
quence of the continual augmentation of the deposits, which
are heaped up on the shores.
Examples of this description abound. The shores of
Guiana increase and gain upon the dominion of the ocean,
as in other parts of the world the sea inundates and en¬
croaches on the land. It is the oceanic currents which
brings to those counties the sediment which has been borne
from the delta of the Amazon. The transport of earthy
materials by the waters need be no matter of astonishment
DESTRUCTIVE AND FORMATIVE ACTION. \\
when we remember the state of extreme subdivision into
which the solid substance becomes reduced. Fine emery
powder, for example, will remain for a long time in suspension
in water, and will take more than an hour to fall to the
bottom of a vessel one foot in height. It may be inferred
from this that if the marine currents carry with considerable
velocity upon the surface of the ocean an extremely fine
earthy powder, that as this powder only sinks very slowly
through the fluid which carries it away, it will be trans¬
ported to a very great distance before reaching the bottom
of the ocean.
Thus the sea, which wears away our continents with so
much violence, does not merely carry on a work of disinte¬
gration ; but, after having demolished the land with its ruth¬
less blows, after having invaded the shores, the sea trans¬
ports to other coasts a sediment which compensates for the
wounds which have been inflicted elsewhere.
But the land itself is not incapable of opposing a vigorous
«defence to the action of the waves by the gradual motion
with which, in many parts, it is endowed. The subterranean
fires which have in past ages corrugated the earth’s surface
are far from being extinct, and earthquakes and other con¬
vulsions are from time to time spreading terror over some
parts of the globe. But these abrupt movements, these tem¬
pests in the realms of Pluto, are the exceptions, even as the
hurricane is the exception to the rule which directs the move¬
ments of ocean. During an earthquake the sea loses its
surface equilibrium; it becomes subject to terrible oscilla¬
tions, and its waters invade the land, producing formidable
convulsions in the countries which they inundate. The
histories of the Greek Archipelago and the islands of Japan
are replete with accounts of such disasters.
42
WONDERS OF WATER.
But subterranean fires seldom act in a manner so violent *
they usually lift up the earth gently, and raise it in an
insensible manner. The hand of a clock appears immovable
at a glance, although it traverses in one hour completely
round the dial. It is the same with the shores of many
continents ; urged by an invisible agency, they slowly
perform an upward and regular progress, and repulse the-
waters of ocean.
Numerous are the writers who explain certain phenomena,
of the sea by saying that the water has retired, that it has,
abandoned its bed, and that the immovable shores have
seen their empire extended through the flight of the liquid
element. The level of the sea is really immovable, but
we are sometimes deceived by appearances. The water,
always agitated on its surface, appears to us the image of
instability, whereas it is endowed with a remarkable fixity ;
and the earth, according to Pliny the emblem of immobility,
is, on the contrary, endowed with motion. The ocean
never retreats from the shore. It is chased thence by the
shore, which is rising.
The ocean does not slowly invade certain coasts; it.
arrives thither by a forcible advance, to which it is impelled
by the actual lowering of the shores beneath the sea level.
Let us take care not to trust too much to the unreflecting
testimony of our senses, but to view facts with the eye of
reason, and we shall then find that ideas are not less real
and incontestable because they are contrary to generally
received opinions.
The laws of hydrostatics teach us that what we term the-
sea level is a surface of equilibrium, determined by the
forces of attraction exercised by the globe upon its liquid
portions. It is impossible for the waters to rise or fall in
DESTRUCTIVE AND FORMATIVE ACTION. 43.
any place whatever in a continued manner, without all the
other parts rising and falling through precisely the same
amount.
Now we are acquainted with a great number of places
in which the sea has not been subject to the slightest change
since the commencement of our history. The general
surface of the sea has, therefore, not changed, and the
constancy of the liquid level which covers almost entirely
the surface of the globe is a positive fact. How otherwise
can it be accounted for that from 1822 to 1837 the sea
had abandoned the shores of Chili (as, indeed, it appeared
to the inhabitants of these countries), and that no varia¬
tions were felt on the neighbouring coasts of Peru and
California? How is it conceivable that the sea should
have risen in the lower part of the Gulf of Arabia, in the
Straits of Messina, and on the coast of Portugal, while it
has remained immovable in the adjacent parts of the
ocean ? Instead of speaking about the immutability of the
earth, it would be more correct to speak of that of the sea.
It must, therefore, be conceded that the level of the ocean
is unchangeable, and that the solidified surface of our
planet is susceptible of elevation, of depression, and of
every kind of modification.
We have here an error very similar to that which, during
so many centuries, was prevalent with reference to the
supposed immovability of the globe. Our eyes still show
us the sun revolving round our planet ; but science has
shown how our own small globe performs its journey round
the sun, which warms it, in an ellipse from which it never
swerves.
Like many truths, that which we announce here, remained
long unsuspected, and the lowering of the sea’s level was-
44
WONDERS OF WATER.
a received doctrine of the older naturalists. In 1731 the
Academy of Upsala resolved to test this important fact,
and to try carefully all the experiments which could solve
the problem. Notches were cut at high-water mark on
rocks washed by the Baltic Sea ; and, some years after, it
was demonstrated that these marks had risen some inches
higher than the surface of the sea. From this fact, it was
proved that the level of the Baltic had considerably sunk ;
but these conclusions met with strong opposition, and fresh
experiments were tried. The ultimate result arrived at
from all these experiments was, that on various parts of the
same sea the level of the water was subject to an apparent
depression, more or less sensible, on different shores ; and
that in other parts (the coast of Scaura) the level of the sea
was rising, because the notches cut before on the rocks
at high-water mark, were now found to have disappeared
beneath the surface of the ocean. It is impossible to
reconcile these enormous variations in so small an extent,
because we would have to suppose that the level of the
ocean formed an undulating surface. It is evident from
these considerations that the level of the Baltic has not
varied more than the level of other seas; but that in Fin¬
land and some parts of Sweden the surface of the earth
has risen little by little, and is gradually elevating itself,
without having received any perceptible shock ; while the
southern coast of the same peninsula is gradually lowering.
The shores of Greenland have during the last four cen¬
turies been slowly descending, and are becoming sub¬
merged by the ocean. The Temple of Serapis, on the
coast of Puzzuoli, is another striking instance of the move¬
ments of the land. The temple, built in a very lavish style
of architecture, was certainly not originally erected upon
DESTRUCTIVE AND FORMATIVE ACTION. 45.
the margin of the sea, where its columns would have been
incessantly buffeted by the waves ; it is now, however, to
be found on the very edge of the shore. The three columns,
which are the only remnants now remaining, present, at the
distance of ten feet above their base, a zone perforated by
shell-fish, which can only have entered the stone when sub¬
merged. Thus this temple, built upon a site completely
sheltered from the waves, was afterwards plunged ten feet
below the water, and has again been placed on the sea level
by the oscillations of the land. Many are the islands of
the Indian Ocean which have risen up from the sea, and
which are now slowly returning thither by means of a gradual
depression; whilst other volcanic islets appear on the sur¬
face of the waste of ocean, like the immense back of some
gigantic sea-monster. In our own days, the fortuitous
apparition of the volcanic island, which surged out of the
waves in the midst of the Greek Archipelago, seems to
warn us that the forces of Nature allow themselves no pro¬
longed repose ; and that the subterranean fires, which long
ages back corrugated the land, and covered it with scars
and wrinkles, are always in action beneath our feet.
The strife of elements, the combat between fire and
water, materially alter, day by day, the aspect of this our
earth.
BOOK IL
THE SYSTEM OF CIRCULATION.
CHAPTER I.
THE JOURNEYS OF THE WATER.
“What spectacle is more beautiful than to see the waters traversing
the skies and return to the earth in the form of rain to quicken and
revive the plants, give birth to fruits and grains, and nourish trees and
vegetables ? ” — Pliny .
HE navigator who leaves Europe in order to cross
JL the ocean, sees an entire change in the aspects
of Nature as he approaches the equator. He there finds a
region where thick clouds obscure the sky, and shed heavy
rain on the waters below ; yet, without this curtain of vapour
to oppose a barrier against the burning rays of the sun, the
traveller would be overpowered by the intolerable heat. The
gloomy seas on the line were formerly the terror of sailors,
for these masses of vapour have a depressing effect upon the
minds of those who venture into these remote regions.
These thick clouds, however, which thus hover over the
43
WONDERS OF WATER.
equatorial seas, are really beneficial to the earth. This band
is the real source of the rivers which water our fields — the
floating reservoir from which escapes all the water which
refreshes and revives our continents.
It is a well-known and important physical law, that every
mass of water, surrounded by air, perpetually exhales into
that air a quantity of vapour, the amount of which is greater
when the temperature of the water is greater.
It may, therefore, be conceived how, under the influ¬
ence of the burning tropical sun, the seas of the torrid zone
emit continually an enormous amount of vapour. A thin
mist rises from the liquid surface, ascends into the air, and
gives birth to the black and sombre vapours that obscure
the equatorial atmosphere.
When once these clouds have gained the higher regions of
the air, where the temperature is sufficiently low, they return
in part to their liquid state, and again fall into the sea in the
shape of rain. But the uncondensed vapour, in consequence
of its lightness, is carried in the higher strata of the atmo¬
sphere by currents directed towards the poles. These cur¬
rents transport the moisture to our own latitudes, where it
dissolves in rain or condenses in the form of snow when it
meets the frozen summits of the mountains.
Thus a great distillation is at work all over the surface of
the globe, the burning rays of the tropical sun acting as the
furnace which heats this alembic. The Equatorial Ocean is
the boiler of the immense apparatus ; the cold atmosphere,
the frozen summits of the mountains of the North, and
the glaciers of the poles, form the refrigerators. The
streams, the rivers and the lakes are the receivers,
which are incessantly filled by enormous volumes of
water, to be again restored to the ocean. This distillation
THE JOURNEYS OF THE WATER.
49
is for ever being repeated ; the water of the receiver being
always sent back again into the boiler, to be submitted to a
new process of distillation.
The noble river, which is poured into the sea, has there¬
fore received its transparent fluid from the ocean itself. The
pure beneficent water from the crystal spring, is none other
than the salt water of the sea, purified in the great laboratory
of Nature. The water came, no doubt, from tropical
regions, accomplishing its journey under the form of light
vapour; but, after its metamorphosis into rain, it came down
again to earth, and made there for a time its abode. As
water, it quenches the thirst of those living beings who sur¬
round it ; nourishes the grass that carpets its margin ; and,
when once its mission is accomplished, it descends along the
course of a stream, and returns to the vast ocean.
The sea has been aptly compared to a miser incessantly
bent on adding to his hoard — it does not restore what has
been stolen during a shipwreck, and if it lends to the earth
the water, which is necessary for the support of life, it is only
to exact afterwards a full payment of the loan. All returns
to the vast reservoir : the very breath which escapes from our
lips only rises into the air to become condensed into a drop
of water, which the sea will ultimately absorb.
In travelling across the earth, and through the air, water
is also commissioned to distribute heat over the globe, and
to modify the temperature of climates. In escaping from
the equatorial seas, the moisture absorbs the heat lavished
by a burning sun, and, borne by atmospheric currents, this
vapour distributes the heat over cold countries. Under the
influence of gentle rain the climates of Northern latitudes are
mitigated, and thus every animated being receives that vital
warmth of which the sun is so lavish under the tropics, but
E
50
WONDERS OF WATER.
which is distributed so much more sparingly in countries,
nearer to the poles.
Before the water finds a high road to the sea by the
streams, it traverses the earth, penetrates into the little
channels which are formed by the fissures in the soil, per¬
colates into porous ground, glides through cracks in rocks,
seeks its way through interstices between flints and pebbles,
creeps between the roots of plants, rises up their stems,
insinuates itself into their cellular system, dissolves and takes
away from the soil the mineral materials which it meets
with on its course, and conveys them to living beings who
assimilate them. At times it unites itself to minerals, and
makes its abode with such substances in combinations which
are called hydrates. Now it rests immovable in marshes,
and anon labours to decompose organic matter, aiding in
the putrefaction and decomposition of the materials from
which turf is made.
Water seldom remains stationary for a long time ; after
having, in a liquid state, traversed the bodies of animals, or
the stalks of vegetables, it becomes exhaled in vapour. Thus,
it again escapes and returns to the atmosphere, which it will
quit in the form of rain, hail, or snow, to commence again
its everlasting round.
A true Proteus, water is constantly changing its form. It is-
the sap of vegetables, and the dew which lies in pearls on the
grass ; it is the blood which circulates in our veins ; it is the
frost which draws a thousand fantastic patterns upon our
windows ; it is the stream which propels our water-wheels,
and the fog which rises from the swamp. It is indispensable
to the existence of all organised beings.
Water, vapour, and ice — in these three forms the sub¬
stance is always found. It never leaves one but to take
THE JOURNEYS OF THE WATER. 5 I
another. Water quits the ocean to irrigate the dry land ;
it deserts the continents to return to the empire of the waves ;
it flies through the air, creeps upon the ground, flows within
the'sea. In one form water is committed to the light breeze.
In another it follows the declivity where it may happen to
find itself ; it penetrates into the crevices of the earth, warms
itself in their depths, and bursts out again, boiling and
impetuous.
Water wears away and polishes the rocks over which it
flows ; it transports from one country to another the minute
seed of a plant, the egg of an insect. Water carries away
trees and stones along the bed of the torrent, heaps up sand
and pebbles on the shore, and undermines and wears away
the solid cliffs.
The poets have often looked upon water as being the
emblem of inconstancy and mobility. The fluid part of the
globe is, indeed, subject to constant agitation. If water be
on a slope, its weight carries it down with a speed depending
upon the inclination, whence originates the torrent, the
stream, the river.
The waves produced by the action of the wind upon the
sea which glide up to the shore and then die away, the
miniature cataracts formed by the streamlets which run
between the stones on the beach, present, apparently, the
spectacle of free and uncontrolled motion. But the great
movements of the sea are not capricious, their obedience
to law is perfect. The circulation of water on the earth
is as regular as that of the circulation of the blood in
animals. The movement of water in rivers may be likened
to that of the blood in our arteries, and the transformation
of salt water into fresh water may be compared to the
constant metamorphosis between arterial and venous blood.
52 WONDERS OF WATER.
What can he more wonderful, and, at the same time, simpler,
than the journey of a drop of water, exhaled from the oeean,
which traverses the atmosphere, and falls to the earth in
rain ? After having drawn both from the air and the soil
nourishment which it has imparted to living creatures, after
having animated all things on its way, it returns to the ocean
to commence anew its beneficent career.
CHAPTER IL
WATER IN THE ATMOSPHERE
HE air, even when it is pure, transparent, and azure.,
X is an immense reservoir of vapour ; it is a vast
gaseous sea, which covers the earth on all sides to a depth
of more than forty miles, at the bottom of which live
animals and plants.
The surface of the sea, as we have already remarked,,
emits constantly into the air a vapour indispensable to the
needs of life. Air too dry we should not be able to inhale ;
it would parch up the lungs, injure plants and animals,
and produce the bad effects we know to result from the
simoon of the desert. At the same time a too damp air has
also its disadvantages. Every one has heard of the malaria
of certain warm and humid localities.
Visible clouds and fogs are frequently confounded with
the vapour of water, but that is a grave error. Uncondensed
vapour is an impalpable gas, which the atmosphere in com¬
bination with the waters of the sea is constantly generating.
Its presence in the air is constant, but the amount is in
variable proportions. Vapour exists usually in almost
54
WONDERS OF WATER.
infinitesimal quantities, seldom forming more than one half
per cent, of the total mass. It is almost incredible how much
this slight element of watery vapour affects the meteorologi¬
cal phenomena of the globe. It exercises an enormous
influence on the radiation of heat, and Tyndall tells us that in
England, on a day of ordinary moisture, the atmospheric
vapour exercises an action at least one hundred times greater
than that of the air itself. It is by the power of absorption
that the vapour acts. The surface of the earth tends to
lose by radiation the heat which it has absorbed, but the
aqueous vapours contained in the air take up that heat,
warm themselves by it, and clothe the earth with a mantle
which secures it from a cold which would be fatal to every
living creature. Wherever the air is very dry (it is never
completely so) we are subject daily to great extremes of
temperature. In the daytime the rays of the sun penetrate
towards the soil without meeting obstacles which arrest them.
The rays warm the ground and produce a high degree of
heat. In the night, however, the earth radiates this heat
back again to the sky, and the result is a nocturnal tempera¬
ture extremely low. In the steppes of India, on the table¬
lands of the Himalaya, in the plains of Australia, in every
country where the climate is very dry, excessive heat during
the day alternates with bitter cold at night. In the midst
of Sahara the rays of the sun raise the temperature of the
ground so much that it is impossible to place the hand upon
it, while at midnight the cold is so intense that water, if it
could be found in so arid a climate, would be frozen. The
difference of temperature arises from this, that the air, deprived
of vapour, cannot arrest the flow of heat. The vapour ot
water is a transparent cloak to the earth: it partially inter¬
cepts the rays of the sun, and prevents their acting with too
WATER IN THE ATMOSPHERE.
55
great force. On the other hand, when the sun has disap¬
peared beneath the horizon, the cloak does not permit the
heat which has been absorbed by the ground to escape into
the celestial space, and it thus protects living beings from cold.
It may be objected that this vapoury mantle which pre¬
serves us from the cold must at the same time prevent the
solar rays from reaching us. This is not altogether true.
The vapour of water is a screen which arrests the earth’s
heat more perfectly than that radiated from the sun. The
obscure rays emanating from the earth differ from the
luminous ones derived from the sun. The moisture absorbs the
former in much greater abundance than the latter. A piece
of glass permits the light to pass, but partly arrests the heat
which accompanies the light. In the same manner the
vapour of water interrupts the obscure rays, whilst offering
a comparatively free passage to the luminous rays, and its
absorbent power is especially exercised on the heat which is
emitted by the earth. In consequence of that admirable
and marvellous influence, the mean temperature of our globe
is higher than would otherwise be the case.
Fogs.
Nothing is easier than to deprive the air of the water which
it contains ; it is only necessary to cool the air, and its vapour
condenses as in the refrigerator of a distilling apparatus. A
decanter of cold water placed in a warm room will become
covered with a coating of dew. So it is in nature ; when the
temperature of a mass of air becomes lowered in consequence
of the disappearance of the sun from the horizon, a point is
reached at which the vapour becomes condensed into drops of
extreme minuteness. Our breath produces in cold localities
5^
WONDERS OF WATER.
a visible cloud. The steam which escapes from a railway-
engine gives birth to a series of similar little globular
vesicles. An infinity of these small invisible spheres, which
are like miniature soap-bubbles, constitute fogs and clouds.
Physicists are not agreed as to the nature of these vesicles.
According to some, they are little balloons swollen by
vapour of water ; while according to others, they are merely
spheres of water without any internal cavities.
To fogs has often been attributed the origin of certain
maladies, and an influence inimical to health. It is evident
that fog is the indication of a superabundance of humidity in
the atmosphere, and that it is usually formed in the midst
of a mass of air in repose, where impure emanations
accumulate easily. In marshy countries it is by no means
unusual to find frequent fogs followed by an epidemic of fever
among those exposed to their influence.
Clouds.
Clouds are fogs situated at a certain distance above the
earth. But there are some clouds formed, no longer of
vesicles, but of small needles of ice. Clouds have a pro¬
verbial mobility, and their classification is almost impossible.
Some meteorologists have, however, tried to discover cer¬
tain leading types among the numerous forms which these
masses of vapour assume. Four sorts of clouds have been
distinguished — the cirrus, the stratus, the nimbus, and the
cumulus (Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9). We do not insist upon these
classifications, which are of little importance, because every
cloud has its particular shape. A -wreath of vapour detached
upon a blue sky is subject to all the caprices of wind, and
assumes an endless variety of forms.
CLASSIFICATION OF CLOUDS.
WATER IN THE ATMOSPHERE.
59
Condensation of Vapour of J Va ter — Rain — Snow — Dew.
Of all the methods of warming or cooling air there is none
more efficacious than to compress or dilate it. Many are
familiar with the experiment of the air tinder-box. By
means of a piston we strongly compress the air in a tube
with thick sides, and this air becomes sufficiently warm to
set on fire a piece of tinder.
Nature cools the air by dilatation, and thus water is
formed in the state of rain by the condensation of vapour.
This is effected by carrying the air into the higher
regions of the atmosphere, where there is less pressure.
The dilated air becomes cold, and precipitates the vapour
in the condition of hail or snow, if the cooling be sufficient.
If we imagine a wind to blow regularly in the direction of
a mountain or a forest, the damp air meeting with an
obstacle does not the less pursue its course. It surmounts
the obstacle, and lifts itself into those regions where the
pressure is less, thus producing rain. It has been frequentl)
remarked that when a current of air moves towards a forest,
the vapour it contains will condense in rain. Should the
obstacle be more lofty, like a mountain, the lowering of the
temperature is more considerable ; the water solidifies in¬
stead of liquifying, and forms snow, or hail. At sea the
effect may be produced by the action of atmospheric cur¬
rents, which, meeting in opposite directions, displace con¬
siderable volumes of air, and produce a like result. A
primary condition of the production of rain is, therefore, a
movement of the air ; but the matter is complicated by the
direction of the wind and the level of the ground.
Go
WONDERS OF WATER.
We may observe, further, that at" present the science
of meteorology is in a very backward condition. There is,
however, reason to hope that at some future time the laws
which preside over the movements of the air and the dis¬
tribution of rain will be discovered.
The condensation of vapour does not take place only in
the mass of the air ; it may be produced on the surface of
bodies on the ground. The phenomenon takes the name
of dew when the vapour condenses into water, of rime , or
hoarfrost , when it assumes tire solid form.
It is 10 Dr. Wells that we owe the explanation of these
various phenomena. During the night bodies become cold
in consequence of radiation, and the vapour of water
condenses on them. The more damp the air, and the
more pure the sky, the more strongly is the phenomenon
produced
HG, 10. SOURCE OF THE APURIMAC.
CHAPTER III.
THE ARTERIAL SYSTEM OF CONTINENTS.
WE have followed the drop of water which we saw
escaping from the ocean under the form of vapour,
abandoning itself to the breeze, allowing itself to be cradled
on the ever-moving air, and returning to be condensed into
water or ice in the higher regions of the earth’s surface.
Let us now come and watch the melting of the eternal snows
which crown the mountain-top, and the formation of the
thousand brooks, the innumerable torrents, which descend
down the slopes of the earth, and wind, serpent-like, upon
its surface ; let us follow the liquid veins to the rivers with
which they at last blend their waters. Let us observe the
rain which penetrates into clay or flint soils, and which in
other parts lodges in the cavities of the ground. Let us be
present at the river’s source : we shall see it escape between
herb and flower, a stream in miniature, a crystal thread
which is the embryo of the river. Let us walk upon its.
banks and listen to its murmur : nor shall we doubt the
possibility that this little brook, so modest and so slender,
will swell into a mighty river.
*64
WONDERS OF WATER.
But as we descend along its course we shall see tributary-
streams join to swell its waters and to feed the liquid which
glides along its bed. The banks separate little by little, the
volume increases, and ere long a majestic river Hows through
countries numerous and rich. “ In its triumphal march/’
says Goethe, in his Song of Mahomet, “ it gives names to the
countries which it waters ; cities rise at its feet. Rapidly it
rushes on its irresistible course, forsaking, as it speeds along,
the gilded tower and marble palace, which to the rivei
owe their origin. This second Atlas bears upon its bosom
stately structures of cedar, while a forest of flags, witnesses
to its glory, ifoat upon its surface.”
The sources of some of the greatest rivers are reservoirs
■of no great extent ; but which, embedded in the mountains,
form the natural receptacles of the rain and melted snow.
The sources of the rivers Apurimac and Camisia in Peru
(Figs. 10 and n), and that of the Rhone in the Alps, are
striking examples.
Chains of mountains prescribe the routes which rivers
must take. The lofty summits of the globe collect the
waters of the ocean, and pour them down their sides in the
direction of the sea. Mountains are not irregularly scattered
on the earth’s crust, but in definite mountain chains, which
possess a certain amount of regularity.
In the continent of the Old World the chains of moun¬
tains take a direction principally from east to west, while those
chains which extend from north to south are comparatively
secondary branches. This fact in the distribution of moun¬
tains has its effect on river systems. The Euphrates, the
Yellow River, the Blue River, all the great water systems of
China, travel from west to east, and the chief arteries of all
our Old World continents have generally speaking the same
■SOURCE OF THE CAMISIA,
THE ARTERIAL SYSTEM OF CONTINENTS. 67
direction ; the larger streams of Africa and Asia extend either
from west to east, or from east to west, the Nile being the
principal exception.
The continent of the New World presents the same appear¬
ance of regularity in the distribution of the liquid arteries
which traverse it. An enormous chain of mountains divides
America into two great watersheds ; the waters which glide
down these immense declivities directing their course
towards the sea either to the east or to the west.
Such is the general view, the spectacle which the irrigation
FIG. 12. — CURVE OF THE COURSE OF A STREAM.
system of the world presents from a distance. In examining
this system more closely we perceive that the rivers pursue
their winding courses with singular irregularity, alternately
winding and contracting, following now a straight and now a
curved path, describing a thousand sinuosities, meandering
through the valleys, becoming confined between rocks and
narrow channels, gliding rapidly down slopes, murmur¬
ing softly in shallows, rushing in rapids, leaping down in
cataracts, and reposing in lakes.
68
WONDERS OF WATER.
The mere force of the current of a river is able to modify
the aspect of the route which it describes. Fig. 12 repre¬
sents a curve traced by a course of water ; the current winds
back on itself, and the isthmus (a), constantly worn away by
two opposing currents, will ere long cease to exist, while the
peninsula (b) will become an island.
Rivers usually widen as they proceed on their journey
from the source to the mouth. The curves which they
describe often become more numerous as the stream ap¬
proaches the sea. In the interior of countries rivers fre¬
quently take a straight course, while, as they near the coast,
they describe numerous curves and wind backwards and
forwards. They return towards the continent, and anon
change again towards the sea, so that in a small space the
stream may run in totally opposite directions. It appears as
if the generous river felt dissatisfied at not having sufficiently
benefited the territories through which it has passed, and
seems unwilling to forsake the continents which it has been
fertilising.
Length and Depth of Rivers.
The greatest rivers of Europe are : the Volga, which has a
course of 2,762 miles; the Danube, 1,722; the Don, 1104;
the Dnieper, 1,243; the Vistula, 598. In Asia the river
Yang-tze-kiang has a length of 3,314 miles, and the river
Amur 2,739.
The Senegal, in Africa, accomplishes a journey of 960
miles; the Nile has a course of about 2,578 miles in extent.
America has the largest arterial system of any part of the
world. The Mississipi fertilises the countries which it
traverses to a distance of about 1,930 miles, and the super¬
ficial extent of its basin is more than seven times that of the
MOUTH OF THE AMAZON,
THE ARTERIAL SYSTEM OF CONTINENTS. 7 1
whole French empire. The width of the great American river
varies from 274 to 823 yards from the Falls of St. Anthony to
the confluence with the Illinois ; the width reaches 2,286
yards at the confluence with the Missouri, while it is about
1,372 yards between the confluence with the Arkansas and
New Orleans. The depth of the Mississipi is from 50 to 60
feet at the confluence with the Ohio, and from 200 to 260
feet between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. The
current travels at the rate of four miles an hour, and during
floods vessels find a difficulty in ascending the stream.
But yet more majestic is the vast stream of the Amazon,
which joins the waters of the Atlantic by an estuary 186
miles in length (Fig. 13). All is colossal about this river,
which restores to the sea the rain and snow deposited in a
basin of fully two million square miles. So deep is this
river that a line of 300 feet in length cannot always fathom
its abysses. With its tributaries it provides 50,000 miles
of inland navigation. The Amazon is, in fact, a fresh¬
water sea, which at flood time moves at the rate of nearly
four miles per hour, and contains a volume sufficient to
supply 3,000 such rivers as the Seine.
Among the most rapid rivers are the Tigris, the Danube,
and the Indus. These watercourses receive into their chan¬
nels a great number of rivers, which form more or less exten¬
sive ramifications round the main artery. The Danube, for
example, receives into its bosom above 200 rivers or brooks.
If the sea were to become dry it would take the rivers of
the world 40,000 years to fill again the vast basin of ocean.
Shores and Floating Islands.
What a variety of aspects, what a diversity of features is
72
WONDERS OF WATER.
presented to us by the course of rivers. The blue or rosy-
coloured waters of some glide along over a bed of flints,
while others flow in yellowish waves over a muddy bed, some
rivers meander over a fertile soil, and slide by hills enamelled
with every description of vegetable productions, while
others again dash over sharp rocks, or languish amidst the
sand of the desert. In our climate it is the fresh and
flowery herbage, the poplar, the willow, which seek the bene¬
ficent water, and plant their roots in the moist soil. In
Africa the graceful foliage of the palm-trees shadows the
surface of rivers, as in the celebrated valley of the Nile,
while the gigantic baobab darkens the watercourse of the
Zambesi and other rivers. In tropical regions a luxuriant
and entangled vegetation covers the banks ; the trees
raise their lofty trunks from amidst a confused mass of
vegetable growths, their foliage towering high above tufted
shrubs and water-plants with gigantic leaves ; creepers,
twining in the midst of this living labyrinth, form a
thousand graceful garlands. The decayed trunks cannot
sink to earth, for the multitude of plants form such a com¬
pact mass, that the trunks are supported by a thousand
connections to the living trees. The fecundity of Nature
appears in all its power in this exuberant vegetation which
covers the ground.
This massing and entangling of the vegetation causes in
American rivers a remarkable phenomenon produced by an
accumulation of floating trees called rafts . The trees, up¬
rooted by the force of the wind or by land-slips, are drawn
along by the current, arrested in their course by islands,
shoals, and other obstacles, and thus form moving islands,
which stretching across the surface of he river, offer for¬
midable impediments to navigation. Among the larger
14- •— FORMATION OF FLOATING ISLANDS ON THE MISSOURI.
THE ARTERIAL SYSTEM OF CONTINENTS. 75
rafts or floating islands, we may mention those of a branch
of the Mississipi, the Afchafalaya, which constantly bears
along with the current a large quantity of wood brought
from the North. During the last forty years this river has
amassed such a quantity of floating debris in one spot, that
an enormous island has been formed, 7 miles in length,
720 feet in breadth, and 8 feet in depth. In 1S16 this
mass sank and rose again with the level of the river, which
circumstance did not at all retard the growth of vegetation,
as the island was covered with a mantle of verdure. In the
autumn it was gay with flowers. In 1835 the trees of the
floating island had attained a height of 60 feet, and the
state of Louisiana ought to take measures for the destruc¬
tion of this immense raft, presenting as it does an insur¬
mountable obstacle to navigation.
On the banks of the Red River, the Mississipi, and the
Missouri the traveller often encounters masses of the same
kind ; the courses of these rivers are, like that of the Afcha¬
falaya, impeded by the heaps of uprooted trees and the too
abundant remains of wrecks (Fig. 14). United by the creep¬
ing plants, and cemented by the slime of the river, this débris
forms in time floating islands. Young shrubs take root on
them ; serpents, caymans, birds come to make their homes
amidst these verdant masses, which sometimes float down
as far as the sea. But occasionally a large tree becomes
caught in some sand-bank, and is there fixed; it extends
its branches like so many hooks, from the grasp of which the
floating islands cannot always disengage themselves. One
tree is often sufficient to impede the progress of a thousand
others, and in the course of years these spoils from far-off
parts accumulate, and sometimes even change the entire
course of the river.
76
WONDERS OF WATER.
The Colour of River Water.
Nature seems to take delight in tingeing the waters of the
Orinoco and other American rivers with shades of every hue ;
some are blue, some green, some yellow, some are brown as
■coffee, some nearly as black as ink. The waters of the
Atabapo, and those of Temi, Tuamini, and of Guiana, have
the brown tint of chocolate. Under the shade of the palm-
trees these rivers assume a black hue, while imprisoned in a
transparent vase they appear of a golden yellow. The in¬
tensity of the colour is due, no doubt, to the presence of
organic matter. When the sun has disappeared below the
horizon, the Orinoco reflects the moon and the constellations
with admirable clearness (Fig. 15).
The waters of the Orinoco, like those of the Nile and
many other rivers of Africa and Asia, have tinged with a
black hue the shores and granite blocks which they have for
so many centuries been laving ; from this it follows that
the colouring of rocks and stones, which rise amphitheatre¬
like above their shores, is valuable evidence of the former
level of the rivers. On the banks of the Orinoco, among
the rocks of Keri, at the mouth of Jao, are to be seen
cavities painted black by the action of the river, although
these cavities are situated more than sixty feet above the pre¬
sent level of the waters. Their existence demonstrates to
us a fact already proved from observations made on the beds
of European rivers — namely, that those currents, of which
the greatness strikes us with astonishment, are merely the
humble remains of gigantic bodies of water which traversed
our continents in the geological era, before the birthday of
mankind.
VIEW ON THE ORINOCO BY NIGHT,
THE ARTERIAL SYSTEM OF CONTINENTS.
79
Subterranean Circulation .
The torrents of rain which the clouds pour upon the sur¬
face of the globe, do not all return to the sea by following
the tracks traced out for them on the surface by the courses
of streams and the beds of rivers. A vast body of liquid
penetrates into the bosom of the ground, percolates into
the sand and clay, becomes absorbed by the porous rocks,
and descends, according to the law of gravity, until it finds
its subterranean voyage stopped by impermeable strata.
A natural drainage is thus at work on the surface of the
earth ; and the waters are to be found accumulated in vast
unknown reservoirs, having escaped from the fluvial arteries,
the vast and numberless ramifications of the great super¬
ficial hydraulic system. Streams, watercourses, even rivers
sometimes disappear into the soil, and are lost in profound
and unexplored abysses. The Guadiana becomes lost in a
flat country in the midst of an immense plain, and afterwards
reappears on the surface of the earth, after having traversed
the subterranean arch of a natural bridge, where, to use the
Spanish phrase, a hundred thousand horned cattle could find
pasture. The Meuse loses itself at Bazeilles. The Drôme,
in Normandy, disappears suddenly in the midst of a plain,
through a hole thirty-three feet in diameter. These examples
might be greatly multiplied, and it would also be easy to
cite several other rivers, such as the Rhone, of which the
loss is merely partial. According to Pliny, the Alpheus, in the
Peloponnesus, the Tigris in Mesopotamia, and the Timavus
in the territory of Aquileja, perform the most mysterious
journeys when buried in the earth.
The most remarkable instance which can be produced of
the penetration of water into the earth, is in connection with a
So
WONDERS OF WATER.
lake varying in its level, which is to be seen at Kirknitz, in
Carinola. The lake extends in winter over a surface of two
leagues in length and one in breadth ; towards the middle of
summer, when the sun pierces the earth with his burning
rays, the level of the water sinks rapidly, and in three or four
weeks the bed is completely dry. The water has escaped by
means of fissures, which can at that time be distinctly seen,
and has filled the numerous subterranean cavities of the
surrounding mountains. The peasants are in the habit of
cultivating the soil laid bare by the retreat of the waters.
When the harvest has been gathered, and the soil of the
lake has rewarded the husbandman’s toil by a rich and
abundant crop, the water returns by the same route and
inundates the valley, bringing with the stream the fish that
have accompanied its subterranean wanderings. Kirknitz
is, in fact, a true subterranean lake, which migrates like the
swallows. In summer it plunges into the bowels of the
earth, and in winter covers the surface of the earth.
Intermittent lakes of the same nature are to be found in
France and various other countries. “ Near Sable, in
Anjou,” says Arago, “there existed, in 1741, a spring, or, to
speak more correctly, a pit, from 20 to 26 feet in diameter,
usually known by the name of the Bottomless Fountain.
This fountain frequently overflowed, bringing with it a great
quantity of fish. There is, therefore, ground for supposing
that this locality formed the vent of a subterranean lake.”
The upper layers of stratified soils are often penetrated,
with layers of water, placed at various depths. This is the
case at St. Nicholas d’Aliermont, near Dieppe, where as
many as seven water-bearing strata are interposed, the beds
being separated by impermeable strata.
In 1831, when an artesian well was completed at Tours,
THE ARTERIAL SYSTEM OF CONTINENTS.
81
there was taken from the depths of the earth clear water,
which contained branches of thorny shrubs, marsh-plants,
and grain, in a state of perfect preservation, a fact proving
decisively that they could not have remained any length of
time beneath the water. These reservoirs cannot be merely
the result of infiltrations, for they have been found to carry
along with them morsels of wood and shells, which could not
have passed through the pores of a natural filter.
The celebrated fountain of Nismes, of which the mean
discharge is 286 gallons of water a second, has often been
seen pouring forth from 2,200 to 2,640 gallons in the same
time, after violent rains have occurred in that neighbour¬
hood. It has been observed that the exceptional discharge
occurred soon after heavy rains which had fallen some distance
off, a fact which proves that water can rapidly traverse great
distances through subterranean arteries.
By penetrating into the fissures of the soil, water sometimes
becomes heated ; the temperature thus attained is often a very
high one, so that the water reappears on the surface of the
earth in a boiling condition. Thermal springs of every de¬
scription originate in this way, the temperature of the water
having been raised by subterranean wanderings. The
heated waters dissolve substances from the rocks which they
encounter in their passage, and form mineral springs, often
of great value, from their medicinal qualities.
Iceland produces wonderful natural fountains of boiling
water, which are known by the name of geysers. Every
half hour, a heavy and indistinct sound announces the bub¬
bling up of the boiling liquid. The water bursts from the
ground with a loud noise, and rises in an immense column
150 feet high. Presently the column of water vibrates, falls
back upon itself, and disappears in the mysterious under-
o
82
WONDERS OF WATER.
ground passages from whence it came. New Zealand, in
the same manner, presents very striking instances of boiling
springs. All round Lake Roto Mahana there rises from
every depression of the ground a thick volume of vapour,
and more than twro hundred geysers issue from the east side
of the boiling lake. The most remarkable of these boiling
mouths is the Te-Ta-Rata (Fig. 16), which is the principal
vent of the mass of water which has become heated by con¬
tact with the internal heat of our globe. “ The enormous
column of water,” says Ferdinand von Flochstetter, in his
travels, “ rises up in a boiling state to a height of from
ioo to 1 15 feet, and fills an oval basin 262 feet in circum¬
ference, bordered round its edges by a snow-white drapery
of stalactites.”
G 2
FIG. l6.— TE-TA-RATA, NEW ZEALAND.
BOOK III.
THE ACTION OF WATER ON CONTINENTS.
CHAPTER I.
MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL ACTION.
IN traversing the earth, in the beds of rivers, the basins
of lakes, and through subterranean channels, the waters
are for ever accomplishing works grand and numerous.
One of the most important elements of destruction resides
in the power which water possesses of dilating by conge¬
lation. The liquid penetrates through the fissures of the
hardest and most compact rocks, and ultimately succeeds
in breaking them by the mechanical force which it develops
in solidifying ; enormous blocks of stone are thus detached
from the mountain-sides, as if a powerful and irresistible
lever had raised them for the mere purpose of precipitating
them into the valley beneath.
Another property of water plays also an important part
in the modifications of the globe. Water eats away the
soil which it moistens by gradually carrying away the earthy
matter ; it penetrates through all fissures, carries away from
86
WONDERS OF WATER.
the earthy particles the natural cement which binds them
together, and in that way produces landslips, which are
sometimes the cause of very serious disasters. The power
water possesses of transporting solid materials is very re¬
markable ; the earthy matter is drifted along by the running
water which bears it, stones, and even rocks being some¬
times carried to a distance. The friction of the fragments
borne along by the torrents operates gradually like a rasp.
It is capable of wearing away in time the hardest sub¬
stances in Nature, and of producing enormous excavations
in the mountains and ravines (Fig. 17). These multiform
actions are often carried on simultaneously, but in order
to study them it is necessary to examine each property
separately.
The Currents — 7 reimport.
We may well find matter of astonishment in the facility
with which currents, often by no means rapid, transport
heavy sand and gravel. But it must be remembered that
the weight of a rock in the water is not the same as in the
air. Every swimmer has noticed how much lighter he feels
when his body is plunged in water. Archimedes made the
same observation long ago, and it led him to the discovery
of one of the most important principles in hydrostatics.
Whenever a body is plunged in water it loses a part of
its weight, equal to the weight of the volume of water which
is displaced, and as the density of a great number of stones
is not more than double that of the water, it follows that
substances drifted along by a current have generally lost
half of what we term their weight. The waters of the
majority of rivers do not flow with any very great rapidity,
whereas the quantity of earthy material which they carry is
Ï1G. 17. — RAVINE OF^OCCOBAMBA
MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL ACTION.
39
enormous. The acceleration of the speed of rivers depends
on the incline, more or less rapid, over which they flow. It
has been ascertained that the waters of the Po hold in suspen¬
sion j-Jq- of their own weight in solid matter, those of the
Rhine those of the Yellow River
From the calculations of Major Rennel, it has been
ascertained that the Ganges casts into the sea, at the time
when it is at the highest flood, a mass of water weighing
2,805 tons a second. The total mass of deposit drifted
down by the Ganges into the sea during the space of one
year would, according to Sir Charles Lyell, exceed in weight
forty-two of the great pyramids of Egypt, and that which is
carried down in four months, at the time the river is
swollen, would be equal to forty pyramids. The mind has
no faculties adequate to the conception of the grand scale
in which the river Ganges effects such a transport. Looking
upon the slow course of this powerful body of water,
watching it traverse majestically the alluvial plain which it
furrows, it would be difficult to realise the mighty work
which the stream accomplishes. What efforts would be
necessary on the part of man before he could effect such a
transport. A vast fleet would not transport from the upper
basin of the Ganges to its mouth a mass of materials equal
to what the great river so easily carries itself during the four
months when it is flooded. To these labours of the Ganges
are added those of all other rivers, and thus we have in
water a Titanic labourer who never ceases to tear from our
continents the earthy materials of which they are formed,
and to bear them far away into the domains of ocean.
The rivers do not alone drift away mud and clay, but
they carry in their waters various mineral substances, which
they hold in solution. The water which falls upon the earth
9°
WONDERS OF WATER.
dissolves some constituents of the rocks and stones which
meet it in its course. Thus the pure water from the clouds
returns charged with salts to the sea. The result is a constant
accumulation of soluble materials in the sea, and probably a.
slow augmentation of saltness. The zoophytes and mollusks
are nourished by the carbonate of lime which the fresh
water by its circuit has carried into their domains, and thus
transform into corals and shells the banks of chalk which
formerly covered our continents. Is not that spectacle a
grand one which is offered us by nature in the sublime sim¬
plicity of the means which she employs ? The water of
the clouds charged with the carbonic acid of the air, falls
upon our limestone hills, it becomes charged with carbonate
of lime, which it pours into the bosom of the rivers. Carried
onwards into the ocean, the carbonate of lime is drawn into
the regular currents, and seized by microscopic animals,
thus adding one more stone to the new empires which are.
being gradually prepared for future generations.
Torrents and Rapids.
When water glides down a steep declivity its power of
transport is wonderfully augmented, and enormous rocks
can then be borne away. Along the sides of mountains the
streams precipitate themselves with extreme violence ; they
chase before them blocks of stone frequently not less than a
cubic yard in bulk (Fig. 18). Thus it happens that rocks whose
first home was on the summits of mountains, came to be
transported into the valley, and further on into the adjacent
plains. Ultimately they reach the sea, there to be reduced
to sand or mud. Among the sand scattered so plentifully
over the shores of the North, among the millions of silicious
particles broken and polished in the bosom of the wave.
FIG. 1 8. — JUNCTION OF THE RIVERS YANATILI AND QUILLABAMBA IN PERU,
MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL ACTION. 93
there is perhaps here and there a grain from fragments which
have escaped from the summit of the Alps !
In the new world, the larger rivers, traversing an uneven
soil, often precipitate themselves down inclined plains with
an astonishing rapidity. These rapids do not always hinder
navigation, and the American Indians venture in their light
craft along these terrific currents. The rapids of Mont¬
morency, in Canada, thus suffer the canoes of the natives
to glxde upon their bosom.
In 1 83 5, after the landslip of the Dent du Midi, in the
Alps, an enormous mass of earthy de'bris formed a black
and compact mud, which did not contain one-tenth part
of water ; notwithstanding which it flowed down into the
Rhone, and transported large blocks of stone into the bosom
of the river, causing it to overflow the opposite bank.
The celebrated mud torrents of Peru and Java have often
been described by travellers ; they glide down declivities,
and cover entire countries with an immense mantle of clay.
Floating Ice .
In those countries in which the cold in winter is sufficiently
intense to convert the surfaces of rivers into ice, the power
of transport possessed, as we have shown, by all running
water, is considerably augmented.
In 1821, M. Lariviere, being present at the breaking up
of the ice at Niemen, on the Baltic, saw a floating block of
ice, 30 feet in length, descending the current of the river
and running aground on the bank. In the middle of
the mass of solid water a block of granite more than
a yard in diameter wras discovered. This stone, analogous
to the red granite of Finland, had been transported in a
raft of ice.
94
WONDERS OF WATER.
All floating ice is mingled with pebbles and small frag¬
ments of stone, which, imprisoned in a frozen envelope at
the moment of its formation, are carried along until a higher
temperature releases them, by melting the mould in which
they are contained.
Waterfalls and Cascades.
The cascades in the rivers of Europe and Asia, and all
countries, afford us, beyond any other work of Nature, a
spectacle of the effects of water in modifying by its inroads
the shape of continents. In America, the Niagara escapes
from Lake Erie, cuts its way through the soil with great
velocity, and, after a passage through tremendous rapids,
precipitates itself into an immense abyss, in order to join
Lake Ontario. An island, which is situated on the edge
of the cascade, divides it into two distinct sheets of water,
one producing the Horseshoe, and the other the American
Fall (Fig. 19). The waves, rushing on to the falls, roll over
a bed of hard limestone, disposed in horizontal strata over
a bank of soft clay. The limestone rock juts out 39 feet
above the open space, and forms a threatening projection,
an enormous protuberance, which appears every instant on
the point of tumbling into the gulf beneath. The lower
bed of clay is incessantly undermined by the clouds of
spray rising from the basin into which the cascade falls, and
striking its earthy walls with violence continually wear them
away. The limestone bed, thus deprived of its support,
becomes separated into fragments, which occasionally fall
into the lower basin, and cause by their fall a shock which
is sometimes felt at a great distance, and echoes through
the air like a clap of distant thunder.
FIG. 19. — THE FALLS OF NIAGARA.
MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL ACTION.
97
When the river has passed the Falls, it rolls its hoarsely-
roaring waves over the bottom of a valley, which it has
scooped by its rapid motion, — a valley the walls of which
the river is perpetually elevating by excavating the hori¬
zontal strata which form its bottom. On the bed of the
river are heaped rocks, tossed promiscuously one upon
another ; the shores bristle with jagged cliffs. These heaped
up fragments,— these rocks, which came perhaps originally
from some far-distant country, form a marvellous combination
of all that is wild and confused, proving how these materials
have been torn and dragged by a gigantic force from the
soil which gave them birth. This force is none other than
that of water.
The destruction of the edge over which rushes the Falls
of Niagara, produced by the gradual wearing away of the
limestone rocks, has caused the Falls to move back¬
wards. In 1829, Mr. Bakewell ascertained that the
Canadian Fall was at a distance of between 130 to 160 feet
from the spot which it had occupied fifty years before. If the
retrograde movement of the Falls had been always accom¬
plished with the same velocity, the ravine into which they
precipitate themselves, and of which the length is about
six miles, would have been formed in 10,000 years. In
order, however, for such calculations to be exact, it would be
necessary to understand the original topography of the
country. The action which takes place under our own
eyes may be widely different from that which took place
centuries ago.
Nor is it less difficult to arrive at probable suppositions
as to the future retrogression of the great cataract. I11
proportion as it moves further from the place where it
escapes at present, the height of the precipice may augment
H
9S
WONDERS OF WATER.
or diminish, in consequence of various modifying causes.
If, in the course of years, the Falls of Niagara reach Lake
Erie, the Lake probably will be drained rapidly, for its
greatest depth does not exceed the height of the cascade.
The mean depth of Lake Erie is at present said to be only
about 65 feet.
Tourists and travellers may thus be to some extent de¬
prived of one of the most beautiful spectacles which Nature
can offer them amidst all the effects, varied, changing,
picturesque, and majestic, which she produces by means of
the liquid element.
The Zambesi is also a striking example of excavations
deepened by the action of water. This great African river
plunges into a vast abyss, which it is incessantly making
deeper, and its fall produces clouds of froth and vapour,
which rise into the air in gigantic columns (Fig. 20).
Picture to yourself a river a mile broad, which finding
itself without a bed, falls into a deep and narrow ravine.
The waters confined within this gulf boil up with so much
energy that five vast pillars, called by the negroes who
dwell upon its shores “ the smoke that thunders,” rise up
towards heaven in columns which yield to the least breath
of the wind. While dark at their base, at their summit
they resemble the smoke of a vast furnace. The bed
along which the Zambesi flows is a cleft in a vast mass of
basalt. This fissure is continued on the other side of the
Falls, and forms a long zigzag furrow, in which the water
eddies and rebounds with great force, part of its side being
carved and striated by the ever- moving fluid which wears
and polishes them unceasingly.
But it is especially around the Falls of Félou (Fig. 22)
that the most beautiful and sculpture-like effects of fresh
O
FIG. 20. — FALLS OF TIIE ZAMBESI.
MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL ACTION
IOI
water acting on a rocky substance can be seen. The waters
put in motion pebbles of red quartz, which they meet with
in their course, and the solid rocks, worn away as by the
drill or the chisel, is marvellously excavated into caverns.
At the time of year when the waters are low we find in these
caverns piles of pebbles, which reveal the implements by
which the caverns have been formed.
It is not, however, necessary to travel so far in order to
FIG. 21. — FALLS OF SCHAFFHAUSEN.
.admire the spectacle of waterfalls and cascades ; Switzer¬
land and the Pyrenees both abound in similar marvels.
Who has not heard of the beauties of the Falls of the
Rhine near Schaff hausen (Fig. 21); and can there be
anything more imposing, more sublime, than the ten or
twelve torrents which are hurled from the heights of Ga-
varnie ? Imagine a semicircular area enclosed by a wall
1,200 feet high, surmounted with a snowy ridge, a series
102
WONDERS OF WATER.
of battlements formed by glaciers which give birth to
numerous torrents. The most considerable of the Falls of
Gavarnie rushes through a height of 461 yards. It falls
gently as a descending cloud, or as a muslin veil which is
being spread out ; the air breaks its fall, the eye finds
pleasure in following the graceful undulations of this beau¬
tiful aerial veil. The sun shines through the feathery waters
with the softest and most agreeable lustre. The cascade
reaches the bottom in a form resembling a plume of light
and softly-waving feathers, and rises up again in a dense
silvery dust. The air is motionless, no living creature exists
in the solitude. Nothing is to be heard but the monotonous
murmur of the cascades, which resembles the rustling of
the leaves in a forest agitated by the wind.
■FALLS OF FELOU,
CHAPTER II.
DELTAS.
FTER the melting of the snows, or after a violent
ii storm, the rivers often become greatly increased in
bulk ; they overflow their banks, they expand into the val¬
leys, where they spread out a large liquid sheet, which
deposits a thick layer of mud. If the waters find a tem¬
porary home in the bosom of lakes they abandon these
earthy substances, which the current had borne in its rapid
course and thus deposit at the bottom of the lake a layer of
Greater or less thickness. But when rivers thus charged
with mud reach the sea, and when the rapidity which has
held the particles of clay in suspension has ceased, these
particles are deposited in the vicinity of the river’s mouth,
thus forming at last new ground, which extends the coast ;
.and if the coast be one on which the waves cast up much
sand, and thus contributes to the extension, it may create
in time provinces and entire kingdoms.
'Plie mud which rivers carry is thus deposited either in
lakes, or at the mouths of those rivers which discharge into
the ocean, and thus gives birth to those encroachments
which are called Deltas.
io6
WONDERS OF WATER.
The alluvial soil which is formed at the mouth of the
Rhone, towards the upper end of the Lake of Geneva,,
affords a striking instance of the thickness which can be
acquired by superposed layers of mud in a short space
of time. The village of Port- Valais, which stood eight
centuries ago on the very edge of the Swiss lake, is now
actually separated from it by a tongue of land upwards of a
mile long. The sand and mud deposited by the waters
have formed this new land, and we can find a great num¬
ber of smaller deltas on the banks of the Lake of Geneva
which are perpetually invading the dominions of the blue
and transparent water.
Lake Superior, in America, the largest lake in the world,
which covers an area almost equal to that of France, receives-
into its bosom considerable quantities of earthy substances,
of sediment regularly deposited in thick layers. Like the
other lakes of Canada, Lake Superior offers upon its shores
indications precious to science, which show the work
effected by these waters in ancient times, and from them
we learn that the waters attained formerly a very high level.
A long way from the present shores we meet with parallel
beds of pebbles and banks of shells, which form one above
another superincumbent layers, resembling the steps of an
amphitheatre. These beds of pebbles arranged by the waters,
these collections of shells brought together by the move¬
ments of the waves, sometimes rise to a considerable height,
and can be seen upon ground situated more than 49 feet
above the present level.
The majority of rivers form at their mouths deltas larger
or smaller, which encroach upon the domain of Ocean.
The account which Strabo has given us of the delta of the
Rhone in the Mediterranean, does not agree with the pre-
DELTAS.
IQ/
sent configuration, a fact which indicates the alterations
which have taken place since the age of Augustus. The
increase of this delta during the last ten centuries is in other
ways measurable, owing to the existence of ancient struc¬
tures, which afford definite information. Far distant from
the present coast are to be seen many lines of towers and
nautical signals which were certainly raised on the very
shore of the sea. The peninsula of Mega, described by
Pomponius Mela, is now inland, far from the shores of the
Mediterranean. The Tower of Tignaux, built on the coast
in 1737, is now about one mile inland.
The Adriatic Sea presents a combination of all the cir¬
cumstances which are most favourable to the formation of
delta. A gulf which penetrates deeply into the land from
a sea without either tide or currents, receiving the Po, the
Adige, and numerous other rivers, is well adapted to ex¬
hibit the formation of land by that power of transport pos¬
sessed by fresh water. All the rivers are incessantly making
up mighty banks of mud and sand, torn from the lands
through which they have passed. Adria, which in the time
of Augustus was able to receive Roman galleys into its
port, has now become an inland town surrounded by fields,
situated at a distance of eight leagues from the coast. The
town of Spina, built at the mouth of a large arm of the Po,
is now four leagues inland.
The Po, in drifting down to its mouth enormous volumes
of mud and fine sand, is constantly invading the sea, which,
having no tide, is unable to offer any obstacle to the intru¬
sions of the river. The neighbouring countries are exposed
to extensive modifications, and we need only cite the ex¬
ample of the river Isonzo, which has gradually abandoned
its bed, having been driven thence by alluvial deposits
WONDERS OF WATER.
ïo8
This stream now runs in a direction above a league to the
west of its ancient channel, and in the neighbourhood of
Ronchi a Roman bridge has been found buried beneath the
deposits of the river.
Instead of abandoning and deserting their ancient bed,
some rivers gradually raise their level above that of the soil,
by covering the land over which they glide with their de¬
posits of alluvium. The Mississipi and the Nile afford
examples of rivers which have thus raised the level of their
bed. The banks of the Nile are much higher than the
surrounding plains ; so much so, that during the inundations,
when the waters rise and overrun the neighbouring countries,
the banks are very seldom completely covered by the waters.
The Nile, which, like the majority of great rivers, is subject,
from the action of atmospheric variations, to periodical
floods, spreads its waters, in consequence of the gradual
elevation of its bed, over spaces more and more considera¬
ble; and the alluvium gains more and more every year
upon the sand of the desert. Antique temples and statues,
which thirty centuries ago overshadowed the waters, are
now disappearing under a thick layer of alluvium. The
priests of Egypt were correct in terming their country “ a
gift from Heaven,” since it owes its fecundity to the generous
river which fertilises the soil.
In consequence of the Nile depositing its sediment
over the land, it does not rapidly increase the great delta
situated at its mouth, although some mouths of the Nile men¬
tioned by ancient geographers are now completely closed
by deposit. “ The distance from the Island of Pharos to
Egypt,” says Homer, “ is that which a vessel, can accom¬
plish in a day with a favourable wind.” At the present day
a swimmer can in a few strokes reach the island.
DELTAS.
I09
When rivers, instead of pouring their waters into the in¬
land seas, discharge into the ocean, they become subjected
to the influence of tides, and the deltas are in consequence
less rapid in formation. The tidal currents have a severe
struggle to sustain with those of the river, and often instead
of the land making an inroad upon the sea, it is the salt
water which penetrates into the mouth of a fresh-water
river. The ocean thus intrudes itself into the continent
where it forms a gulf, an estuary, a negative delta. But
when the volume of the river is considerable, and when the
velocity of its waters is great, the action of tides can be neutra¬
lised, and the continental artery succeeds in constructing
its delta in spite of the wrath of the waves. At the mouth
of the Ganges the sea is invaded by a tongue of land eighty
leagues in length and seventy-two in breadth. The margin
of this vast delta is indented by an infinity of small rivers,
by a labyrinth of salt water, which extends over a vast space
called “ the Sunderbunds ; ” a veritable desert, in which
the tiger and alligator reign as masters over an area equal to
that of Wales. When the waters of the river are low, the
tide exercises its influences, but when the stream has be¬
come swollen by tropical rain, the waters rush forward with
tremendous impetuosity; they are then capable of resisting
the oscillations of the sea, repulsing the mighty element. The
Delta thus increases rapidly in a short space of time, and
encroaches upon the empire of the sea. During the other
seasons of the year the waves take their revenge.
CHAPTER III.
INUNDATIONS
AIN, and the torrents which are its consequence ; ava-
IV lanches, and the overflowings of rivers which result
from them ; earthquakes, which drive entire lakes from their
beds ; glaciers, which form the temporary prisons of a mass
of water, to which they open a sudden passage by liquefac¬
tion, are the principal causes of inundations.
In 1826 the White Mountains, in New Hampshire, were
(after two years of drought) inundated by torrents of rain.
The torrents thus formed flowing rapidly down the sides
of the mountains, rolled large stones towards the banks of
the river Saco ; their speed becoming accelerated from
second to second, it was not long before they swept along
with them trees and masses of earth. One of these moving
masses, not measuring less than 100 yards in length, pre¬
cipitated itself into the bed of the Saco and produced a
partial overflow, the stream being swollen under the in¬
fluence of the rain. In a few hours several valleys were
completely inundated, and from all parts violent torrents
rushed precipitately, carrying down with them from the
hills uprooted forests of trees, torn from the earth like stalks
INUNDATIONS.
Ill
of wheat beneath the sickle of the reaper. The rivers Saco
and Amonoosuck completely overflowed their banks, burst
forth from their channels, and deluged the surrounding plains ;
so much so that in a short time whole square leagues of neigh¬
bouring country presented a terrible scene of devastation. In
1818 the Val-de-Bagnes became converted into an immense
lake, owing to the stopping up of some defiles, caused by
avalanches of snow. This lake was confined by hills of ice,
and by embankments of snow which melted in the spring,
and the valley, so full of water, became empty in less than
half an hour. The waters thus set free rushed in prodigious
volume, and precipitating themselves with a speed of twelve
yards a second, they inundated to a great distance the
adjacent country, carrying with them houses, trees, rocks,
and ploughed soil.
The list of such disasters is unhappily but too long, and
examples of the same description may be infinitely multi¬
plied. In these catastrophes water oversweeps without pity
the productions of Nature equally with human handiwork,
and reveals itself, as the strongest and most terrible of all
the elements.
The Rhone, the Loire, and indeed all rivers, are frequently
liable to floods, of which we know but too well the melancholy
consequences ; and how to prevent the return of such fatal
occurrences has long been felt as a necessity.
Some rivers have in modern times become subject to sudden
floods, so as occasionally to overflow their banks, burst
all barriers, and deluge surrounding countries ; while others
have become choked with sand, and even their sources
have dried up. What has caused these changes in the
hydraulic system ? Walk through forests that are being
cleared, and look at the trees on the mountain-side which
I 12
WONDERS OF WATER.
are falling under die wood-cutter’s axe, and there you will
learn one cause of such changes. It is not in France that
the effects of clearing woods are manifest ; in order to
see them we must transport ourselves to America, where
natural phenomena are on such a magnificent scale.
In the year 1800, Humboldt sought near the town of
Neuva Valencia for the lake of Valencia, of which he had
met with numerous descriptions in the works of old writers.
The lake of which so much had been said was nothing more
than a pool. To this fact we may add the explanatory one,
that during the last two centuries numerous clearings have
taken place in the neighbourhood. Twenty-five years later,
M. Boussingault visited these regions, and the lake seemed
to have regained its former size ; but five-and-twenty years
of neglected cultivation, the result of civil war, had enabled
the neighbouring forests to shelter the ground under their
thick branches. In Ascension Island the same phenomenon
has been observed. A mountain was cleared of its wood,
and in consequence an abundant spring in the vicinity dried
up. Later, however, the spring reappeared with the trees,
which had been permitted to grow again. In other regions
the devastation of forests is followed by frequent inundations,
while where the trees are preserved the system of waters
remains unaltered. On the road to Quito, for instance, is
to be seen the Lake of St. Pablo. From the period of
the first invasion of Peru the country has remained the
same, the trees have been protected, and the lake has not
varied.
These facts prove that great clearings favour the evapo¬
ration of the water from the ground, and thus sometimes
cause the drying up of lakes and of watercourses. When,
on the contrary, countries are planted with trees, the rain-
INUNDATIONS.
JI3
water remains on the surface of the earth. If the trees are
cut down, torrents during the heavy rains will glide down
the declivities of the mountains, and not meeting with any
obstacle, cause the rivers to overflow. The leaves of the
trees during the night condense the vapours of the atmo¬
sphere, they deprive the air of its moisture, and render the
rain less violent. Thus the forests affect the distribution of
rain, prevent the soil from being worn away by the action of
water, and keep the rivers from becoming choked with sand.
But, it will be said, is it not possible to ascertain whether,
since deluges have already occurred, we may not expect them
again ? Can science tell us whether we are still exposed to
the encroachments of the seas which might result from an
earthquake ? Before answering this question it is necessary
to know whether the revolutions on the earth’s surface have
been sudden or gradual ; this is an important question,
which has been the subject of eager discussion between dis¬
tinguished scientific men. It is probable that both hypo¬
theses are true; in our own days the shores of certain
continents are rising gradually ; and in the course of ages
the cumulated effects become the cause of highly important
modifications on the earth’s surface. On the other hand,
the uprising of mountains and the shocks of earthquakes
have effected changes both sudden and terrible. When the
chain of the Cordilleras first formed an immense ridge on
the surface of the globe, the earth must have been violently
shaken, and the sea, tossed in its bed, probably produced
vast deluges.
Will such violent phenomena recur again ? Probably
not; for the crust of the earth, augmenting in thickness in
proportion as the globe grows colder, will oppose a resist¬
ance ever stronger and stronger to the subterranean fires.
i
WONDERS OF WATER.
J 14
It is possible that our planet is destined to lose its
oceans and its atmosphere, and to pass gradually into
a condition similar to that of the moon, for the waters
become absorbed in proportion as new rocks are formed
by the consolidation of the molten portions of the globe.*
The solid parts of the earth are porous ; and the water,
insinuating itself by a thousand openings, travels slowly
but surely towards the centre, and disappears in proportion
as the crust increases in thickness. We have already seen
that rivers and lakes have diminished in volume since the
geologic ages. It may be that the dried-up earth will ulti¬
mately behold all life disappear from its surface ; the air
will no longer oppose any resistance to the passage of the
solar rays ; frigid nights will succeed burning days, though
our planet will not the less continue its course around the
sun.
CHAPTER IV.
CHEMICAL ACTION.
Petrifying Fountains — Stalactites.
HE effects produced by so-called petrifying fountains,
have at all times attracted the attention of natu¬
ralists. Pliny tells us that at Peperina there is a fountain
which petrifies all the earth which it waters ; this is also the
case with some hot springs at Delium. At Eurymenes
the garlands which are cast into a certain fountain become
petrified. At Colosse flows a river which turns bricks which
are thrown into it into stone. In the mines of Scyros the
trees which are moistened by certain waters become petrified,
even to their branches.
The erroneous notion of the changing of a body into stone
by contact with certain waters, has been handed down from
one age to another, and even in our own days numbers
of persons imagine that the so-called petrifying springs
transform organic substances into stone.
The liquid charged with carbonate of lime deposits the
salt which it holds in solution on the surface of organised
bodies, animal or vegetable, and covers them with a solid
layer, a chalky varnish which adapts itself to the external
WONDERS OF WATER.
1 16
form of the object which it covers, but does not take the
place of the material substance of which the object is com¬
posed. Thus organic substances become clothed in a
solid envelope, and can be preserved for a long period
in an unchanged form.
In France, near Clermont (Puy-de-Dome), at St. Alyre,
at St. Nectaire, and in numerous other places, there exist
springs and fountains which possess this incrusting property.
Baskets of fruit, birds’ nests, branches, and various other
objects are placed in the water, and in a very short time
become covered with a strong coating. The waters of
Hieropolis, in Asia Minor, present one of the most beautiful
phenomena to be met with anywhere in connection with
incrustation ; they run down the declivity of a mountain,
and form there a series of fine petrified cascades.
Rain water charged with the carbonic acid from the air
often traverses thick layers of calcareous soil, and dissolves
the carbonate of lime by means of the carbonic acid which
it holds in solution. Subjected to the effects of gravity the
water sinks into the ground, and should it enter caverns or
empty spaces, the carbonic acid will evaporate, and the
limestone which the water holds in solution will be de¬
posited in layers, to which nature delights in lending a
thousand forms.
Natural caverns are thus very frequently furnished with
stalactites, deposits conical in their form, resulting from the
infiltration of mineral waters through the walls, and sus¬
pended vertically like the icicles we see upon the eaves of
our houses in winter. The formation of stalactites remained
long unexplained ; philosophers were slow in tracing these
apparent vegetations to the agency of water.
Stalactites are generally formed of carbonate of lime, but
CHEMICAL ACTION.
II7
occasionally they are composed of silex or malachite. As,
however, in all cases the method of formation is the same,
we will confine our description to the carbonate of lime.
This substance is insoluble in pure water, but dissolves in
water charged with carbonic acid. Let us imagine that a
water of this nature infiltrates into the earth and penetrates
into the fissures of the rocks which form the walls of a grotto,
or oozes through their porous texture. Some drops will
remain for some time suspended. Such drops will evaporate,
and leave the carbonate of lime which they hav.e held in
solution. The first drop will leave an almost imperceptible
deposit of an annular form, the second will add to this
deposit, and so will the others, until the incipient stalactite
assumes a form similar to that of the quill of a feather, and
the successive and continuous evaporation of other drops
will at length close the orifice. The water will trickle
along the sides of the tube, which increases externally, and
as the deposits are more abundant towards the base than
towards the extremity, in consequence of the progressive
impoverishment of the fluid, the stalactite will ultimately
present the appearance of a greatly elongated cone.
The water escaping from the upper portion of the vault,
falls vertically upon the ground. When arrived there it
evaporates and sets more of the lime at liberty ; this is re¬
peated by other drops, which thus form ultimately under¬
neath the stalactite a deposit of the same nature, called a
stalagmite. The stalagmites rising from beneath in time
■often reach the stalactites, which descend from above, and
in this manner are formed the fantastic columns which
decorate the interior of some grottoes. The fluid which
trickles down the walls of these grottoes gives birth in the
same way to deposits, of which the form bears a strong
3 1 8 WONDERS OF WATER.
resemblance to those of draperies and waving folds, or to
that of a cascade suddenly solidified.
In France, especially in the Pyrenees and in the neigh¬
bourhood of Besançon, there are several of these grottoes,
in which water is incessantly employed in the construction
of the most fantastic objects. The Grotto of Antiparos, in
the Greek Archipelago, which has been visited and de¬
scribed by the celebrated naturalist Tournefort, is perhaps
the most remarkable. After this may be ranked the “ Trou
du Han,” in Belgium; the Grotto des Demoiselles, in
Plerault ; those of Arcy, in Savoy ; Kirkdale, in England
and Gaileureuth, in Bavaria.
The Grotto of Han is situated in the province of Namur.
In this country the little river Lesse penetrates through a
rocky cavity at the foot of an eminence, and disappears
into the depths of a dark gulf with a deafening roar. The
stream reappears at a distance of 1,300 yards. On the
opposite side of the hill its waters, before so agitated, come
forth as calm and limpid as if they had issued from a crystal
fountain. What route have they traversed within the earth ?
If floating bodies are thrown into the Lesse on the side cf
the hill where it loses itself, they are never found on the
other; and if the waters at their entrance are rendered
turbid by a flood, an entire day elapses before their trans¬
parency is defiled at the exit. Beneath the rock where
the Lesse escapes for the continuation of its course there
reigns an intense gloom. A deep cavity has to be pene¬
trated ere we can explore the wonders of this curious
cavern. The Grotto of Han is composed of twenty-two
different chambers, and numerous narrow and very long
caverns. It is impossible without visiting them to have-
any idea how varied and striking a spectacle they afford.
CHEMICAL ACTION.
119
After having traversed in succession the “ White Hall,”
so termed from the brilliant layer of carbonate of lime which
enamels its stalactites and rocks, the “ Saltpetre Hall,” the
“Hall of Beetles,” the “ Hall of the Precipice,” which contains
a remarkable stalagmite resembling a balcony suspended over
a deep gulf, the “ Grotto of Antiparos,” which derives its
name from the resemblance which a limestone block in it
bears to the famous “ Tomb ” in the Greek cavern, and lastly,
the “ Gallery of the Swallow,” we reach the “ Grande Rue,”
a narrow corridor 126 yards in length. The Grande Rue
is a natural opening in a fine black marble, which is polished
by the water that perpetually trickles over its surface.
Finally we arrive at the “ Mysterious Grottoes,” in which
the most astounding marvels of this vast cavern are crowded
together. When a fire illuminates the groups of stalactites
which hang from the dark and shadowy summit, where we
see the alabaster stalagmites which cover the ground, the
columns, fine and slender or massive and compact; the
waving drapery gracefully festooned; the infinite number of
translucent needles, of every length and thickness, which
surround the vault ; the concretions of every shape ; strange
ornaments of a fantastic style of architecture. We advance
500 feet further into the earth and reach the immense
“ Dome Hall,” which is not less than 200 feet in length
and 380 in breadth. We no longer see the stalactites, for
the glare of the torches does not light the upper part of
the vault, and the heights are lost in a thick gloom; but
the stalagmites which strew the floor of the cavern are
of colossal dimensions and of extraordinary shapes,
seeming as if modelled and wrought by the hand of
some skilful artist. Here we see an immense marble tomb,
which is termed the Mausoleum ; there lies a block of
120
WONDERS OF WATER.
blackish limestone sparkling with crystals. A little further
on, we come in sight of a fantastic swan, which hangs by
its beak from the wall of the vault ; of a tiara, which appears
to deck the head of a giant ; of a colossal throne, which is
termed the “Throne of Pluto.” All around are heaped up
immense fragments of rock, polished and rounded by the
action of water.
The silence of these sombre galleries is only disturbed by
the falling of the drops of water which succeed one another
in regular order, and which add some atoms of calcareous
matter to the edifice which they are constructing. This
sound, sharp and regular as that of the pendulum of a
clock, is the sole indication of the work which the water
carries on, and has been carrying on in these caverns during
an incalculable series of ages.
Pisolites — Oolites.
Waters which hold solid matter in solution produce
other concretions, termed by geologists “ Pisolites ” or
“ Oolites,” according to the size and shape of their grains.
These globular stones are formed in fountains, where the
water containing the solid matter is in a state of violent
agitation. The waters, by their motion, hold suspended
numerous small particles of sand, which become centres
about which the dissolved calcareous matter deposits
itself; thus each particle is surrounded with a film which
gradually increases, and in time becomes a thick envelope.
As the grains increase in weight they sink to the bottom
of the liquid; and being in contact with one another,
they cohere and produce granular masses. We can ob¬
serve the formation of similar rocks in the calcareous
CHEMICAL ACTION.
I 2 I
waters of Vichy ; in those of Carlsbad, in Bohemia ; and of
Tivoli, near Rome.
Whereas pisolites only form very small concretions, oolites
have often produced entire mountains. In such a case we
can only form conjectures as to the origin of so singular a
formation, which originated in the ancient geological epochs ;
irts, however, quite certain that here also the action of water
has been busy.
Water charged with carbonic acid has also the power
of dissolving limestone rocks, frequently producing thereby
deep excavations ; it is probable that the celebrated natural
bridge of Ain el Liban has been produced in this way.
Still Waters.
After having examined the action of moving waters, let
us take a glance at those vast marshes in which the liquid
element is stagnant, and where it stretches inert and life¬
less over the earth. Widely different is the work which
water accomplishes, but not less important is the effect
produced.
Organic substances, vegetable debris of all sorts, such as
the remnants of reeds and other marsh plants, may be found
decomposing in stagnant water ; fermentation is thus pro¬
duced in ponds and morasses where no current comes to
renovate the waters, and noxious gases rise from the decom¬
posing masses. Sometimes the remains of trees and plants
become partially carbonised, and form at the bottom of the
marsh deposits, which during the progress of ages are
transformed into peat.
Such is a brief sketch of the effects produced on the
surface of the earth by the labours of the waters. To
12 2
WONDERS OF WATER.
recapitulate: water in its unwearying movement acts as a
mechanical agent in diluting the soil which it moistens, in
polishing stones, and in transporting mud, sand, and clay,
in dilating itself by congelation, and in giving an impulse
to the avalanches which cause rivers to overflow their
boundaries and produce inundations. Water also acts
chemically by dissolving rocks and minerals. The action
of the water, as we have already observed, is destructive
and reproductive. It carries away the earthy particles,
only to deposit them elsewhere. The mountain feeds the
delta. Water dissolves the limestone, and bears it down tO'
the sea; but the water offers the limestone to the polyps,,
which seize upon it and build with it in the midst of ocean
immense banks of coral. Thus existing lands furnish
materials for future continents.
CHAPTER Y.
YESTERDAY AND TO-MORROW
“ The world does not always present to us the same aspect ; here
where we are to-day treading the soil of a continent the sea has flowed
and will one day flow again, the region where the sea flows now has
once been and will again be a continent.” — Aristotle.
S I was one day passing through a very ancient and
1~\. densely populated city, I asked one of its inhabitants
if he could tell when it was founded.” “ It is,” replied the
man, “ a great city, but to inform you how long it has
existed would be absolutely impossible, and of that our
ancestors were as ignorant as ourselves.” Five centuries,
later I revisited the same spot, and perceiving no vestige of
the town I inquired of a peasant who was gathering herbs
on its site, how long a time had passed since its destruction.
“By my faith,” he replied, “you ask of me a strange
question, this country has never been anything different to
what it is now.” “ But was there not once a great city
here?” I inquired. “Never,” he replied, “as far as we can
judge by what we have ourselves seen, nor have our fathers
ever told us anything different.” Another five centuries
passed, and again I revisited the spot — this time the sea
124
WONDERS OF WATER.
covered the site. Seeing some fishermen upon the shore, I
asked them how long it had been since the sea had invaded
this piece of ground?” “ A man like yourself,” said they,
“ought not to ask such a question as that. This place
always has been what it is now.” Again at the end of
another five hundred years I returned once more — the sea
was no longer there, and I was desirous of knowing how
many years had elapsed since the sea had retired. A man
whom I accosted made answer, in reply to my question, as
all the others had done ; he said, “ that things had always
been just as I now saw them.” Once more, after a similar
lapse of years I returned for the last time, and found in¬
stead of the desert a flourishing city, richer, more populous,
and more magnificent than the first which I had seen.
Being desirous of ascertaining how long it had existed, I
questioned the inhabitants on the subject, to which they
replied, “The origin of our city is lost in the night of ages ;
we do not know when it first existed, and on this subject
our fathers knew no more than we do.” Thus speaks
Ivhidhr. an allegorical personage introduced in the writings
of a very ancient Arab writer, Mohammed Kazwini,
who flourished towards the end of the thirteenth century ;
and this graceful apologue sets forth in a manner both
elegant and original the reciprocal changes of position which
the continents and ocean have experienced.*
From a very remote antiquity philosophers have recognised
that extensive modifications must have taken place on the
surface of the globe, and the most ancient systems of Egypt
and India have connected them with deluges. Among these
* The narrative which we have here been quoting is taken from a
very valuable MS. in the possession of the Bibliothèque de Paris, trans¬
lated by M^srs. Chezy and De Sacy.
YESTERDAY AND TO-MORROW.
I25
nations, however, every belief was based upon some super¬
stition, and they imagined that the gods interfered directly
in all great operations of Nature. It is from the last century
that we must date the birth of geology. In studying the
archives of the primeval world, in whatever part of the ter¬
restrial globe they are found, we discover that a large portion
of the earth’s present soil has been formed at the bottom of
the ocean. The sea-shells which are found in it attest this
fact with irresistible evidence. It is a universally known
fact that many ordinary building stones contain marine
shells, and if we examine a piece of chalk we are astonished
at the number of traces of organic life of different kinds
which are met with. The calcareous soils which extend
over the surface of our continents are, in fact aqueous de
posits. The sea formerly flowed over their surface, and
the sediments increasing as ages rolled on, have at length
formed strata of considerable thickness, filled with relics of
the animals which lived in those remote epochs.
In digging into the soil of Paris, we pass through succes¬
sive layers, each of which indicates to some extent its his¬
tory by its contents, and the fossils which we find there may
be regarded as so many hieroglyphics graven by Nature upon
the successive strata.
It is thus that geology has been able to reascend the steps
of the past, and unveil the history of the formation of the
Paris beds. Excavations made into the heights of Mont¬
martre have enabled the observer to discover the order in
which the subjacent strata occur. We find, i. A bed con¬
taining remains of marine animals, indicating that this stratum
was once under the ocean. 2. A layer of soil containing
remains of land animals, showing that the sea must have
retreated from the place which it had previously occupied.
126
WONDERS OF WATER.
3. A second layer of shells and marine animals, showing that
the waters had regained their former dominion, doubtless
owing to the subsidence of the soil. 4. A second layer con¬
taining traces of creatures which breathe our air, and some
of which are almost identical with existing species. 5. A bed
testifying by new marine deposits to a fresh invasion of the
ocean. 6. Strata in which the débris of our own animals
and traces of the implements of human industry indicate
the commencement of the modern epoch.
By thus seeking on the surface of the globe for the re¬
mains of extinct worlds, and tracing in various countries the
successive strata, geologists have been able to construct to
some extent the map of Europe as it was before the advent
of mankind. The site now occupied by Paris was then sub¬
merged, and the shape of the ancient continents bears no
resemblance to those now existing. It is possible that we
shall one day succeed in deciphering the enigmas that will
unravel the mysteries of the past ; and, on the other hand,
the study of ancient physical revolutions on the face of the
globe may to a certain extent enable us to penetrate the
future.
BOOK IV
THE COMPOSITION OF WATER,
AND ITS
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES.
CHAPTER I.
WHAT IS WATER?
The Laboratory.
FTER having examined the part that water has to play
jL~\. in Nature, let us pursue our investigation yet more
closely; let us have recourse to such apparatus as science
has brought to bear on the study of the substances we find
on the earth. I must tell you that you will not find in a
modern laboratory any of the fantastic apparatus which you
are perhaps prepared to see, and with which the alchemists
were in the habit of astonishing their visitors. The croco¬
dile has long ceased to yawn from the ceiling, the groan¬
ing bellows no longer blow up the glowing furnace. The
student of Nature has thrown aside his quaint robe, and is
lio longer absorbed in the labyrinth of dusty volumes which
lay in disorderly piles within his sanctuary. Instead of
123
WONDERS OF WATER.
hunting amid this inextricable medley of old books for the
truth which is so rarely found there, his efforts are now
directed to the study of Nature through facts, and to the
interrogating of her by means of experiment ; climbing in this
way laboriously the steep path of methodical study, he at
length reaches by means of observation truths which thus
only can be discovered.
We shall find in our laboratory glasses in readiness to
receive fluids which are to be poured into them ; beakers,
flasks, and retorts, intended to be subjected to the action of
heat ; gas stoves will be kindled at the touch of a match,
furnishing us instantaneously with a high temperature with¬
out the aid of the traditional bellows; batteries will give
as we require them either a powerful electric current, or a
brilliant light ; a pneumatic machine will produce a vacuum,
if we need one for our experiments ; a chemical balance
will assist us in our analysis ; a barometer will indicate the
atmospheric pressure ; a thermometer and other instruments
will each in turn supply our wants.
Perhaps, my reader, you rather regret the disappearance
of the old alchemist with his strange apparatus, and the dust
which covered it. If you have a taste for the picturesque,
you doubtless deplore the absence of the crocodile stuffed
with hay, and you exclaim at not seeing the serpent pre¬
served in spirits, nor the pelican, the skeleton, or the
spider’s web.
Our laboratory has torn away all the charming mystery
which surrounded these studies; but instead of speaking
confusedly to your imagination, it will in clear language
address your reason. This half light, this mysterious ob¬
scurity which hung over the sanctuary of the alchemist, was
superstition, the false dominating over the true. These
WHAT IS WATER?
I29
fantastic ornaments represent that element of the marvellous
which always haunts the first footsteps of science and retards
its development. This old sage, who has for sixty years
Teen trying to decipher the same musty conjuring book,
what is he but a representative of misdirected science, of man
sking truth of his fellow-men ignorant as himself, instead
A asking it of Nature, which conceals it indeed, but will
•assuredly reveal it to the patient seeker.
Our laboratory, clean, well lighted, orderly, is representa¬
tive of modern science, simple, accurate, stripped of its unin¬
telligible jargon, of its harsh and repulsive aspect, offering to
all the secrets which she formerly kept for her few initiated
ones. She no longer affects abstract terms, mysterious and
high-sounding phrases. Free from all disguise, she addresses
herself to all, and aims at being understood by all. We
begin our researches by decomposing water — that is to say,
by submitting it to analysis.
Analysis and Synthesis.
Here is a glass vase called a voltameter (Fig. 23). We shall
fill it with water, slightly acidified with sulphuric acid. By
the aid of a galvanic pile, we cause to pass through the
voltameter an electric current, conducted by two platinum
wires, which pass through the varnished bottom with which
our apparatus is furnished. The water becomes decomposed,
and the wires are immediately covered with little gaseous
bubbles which have been evolved. How are these gases to
be collected and examined ? Nothing can be simpler. We
put into the vessel, over the platinum wires, two small test
glasses, which soon become filled with gas. We observe
that the volume of gas which escapes from the wire cor-
J
130
WONDERS OF WATER.
responding with one pole of the pile is twice the amount
of that of the other gas issuing from the other pole.
We remove the first test glass from the voltaic battery,
and then apply a lighted match to its orifice, and we find
that the enclosed gas immediately ignites, with a slight
detonating sound. Let^us now plunge into the second test
glass a match so nearly extinguished as only to offer a
single incandescent point, we shall see the match take fire
FIG. 23. — VOLTAMETER.
immediately and burn up brightly. The gas contained in
this tube, though not itself inflammable, can yet support com¬
bustion. In this experiment we have decomposed water, and
have extracted from it two distinct gases, one of which burns
with a dull flame, and is called hydrogen ; whilst the other,
which does not take fire, but supports combustion in another
body, is called oxygen.
There are a great number of other experiments by which
water can be decomposed. I throw into a flask containing
fig. 24.
J 2
FIG. 25
132
WONDERS OF WATER.
zinc, water mixed with sulphuric acid (Fig. 24); the zinc, under
the influence of the acid, takes away from the water one of its
constituents — oxygen : the hydrogen thus set at liberty, can
be collected. The other constituent of water, oxygen, can be
produced by heating in a retort a mixture of chlorate of pot¬
ash and oxide of manganese (Fig. 25). Oxygen is thus very
easily obtained, so as to enable us to study its properties.
This gas, as we have seen, can support combustion ; sulphur
and phosphorus burn in it much more freely than in the air,
and if a steel spiral spring, to which is attached a piece of
ignited sulphur, be plunged into oxygen, the metal burns with
great brilliancy, numerous bright sparks escaping from the
now incandescent steel. Other metals, such as iron, decom¬
pose water by mere contact, but it is necessary to heat the
metal to a red heat. If we introduce steam into a tube filled
with iron shavings, heated from below by gas-burners (Fig. 26),
the water becomes decomposed by contact with the incan¬
descent metal, and the oxygen is fixed in the condition of
FIG. 2/o
*3 4
WONDERS OF WATER.
oxide of iron: the hydrogen being set free, passes through a
tube into a test glass, placed in a basin filled with water. This
decomposition may be represented by the following table : —
Hydrogen . Hydrogen.
Oxygen | . Oxide of Iron.
Chlorine, a greenish-yellow gas, also decomposes water
under a high temperature; for the chlorine combines with
the hydrogen, and sets the oxygen at liberty. The de¬
composition is effected by the apparatus represented in
Fig. 27. The chlorine is produced in a glass flask of a
spherical form, containing peroxide of manganese and
hydrochloric acid ; the gas passes from the flask into a glass
retort containing water heated to boiling. The mixture of
chlorine and steam thus produced penetrates through pumice
stone made red hot; the hydrogen of the water combines
with the chlorine, and gives as its -result hydrochloric acid,
which passes with the oxygen now set free into a pan filled
with water, in which a receiver is plunged. The hydrochloric
acid dissolves in the water, while the oxygen, which is
scarcely soluble, fills the receiver.
We have thus, by these experiments, destroyed and
analysed water, which is not, as the ancients believed, a
simple elementary body, but is formed of two distinct
elements. Up to the present we have been content to
destroy, to tear asunder a particle of water into its two com¬
ponents ; but can the fragments be reunited in our hands ?
Can we form artificial water with oxygen and hydrogen ?
Nothing is simpler.
The accompanying illustration (Fig. 28) shows an ap¬
paratus by means of which the problem can be solved. A
flask contains the combination of zinc and dilute acid which
Water . .
Iron . . .
WHAT IS WATER?
Ï35
produces hydrogen. The gas is dried by passing through a
tube filled with pieces of chloride of calcium, and when the
dried hydrogen emerges at the extremity of a bent tube, it is
set on fire. A bell-glass is then placed over the flame, and
soon becomes covered with a cloud of steam — even drops
trickle down its sides and fall into a vessel beneath. This
liquid is water artificially fabricated. The hydrogen, as it
fig. 2S.
burns in the air, becomes united with the atmospheric
oxygen, and together they produce water. We have thus
accomplished the synthesis of water. Can anything be
more conclusive than these experiments, in which the
nature of water is shown both with clearness and with
certainty? It has, however, taken many centuries to learn
the composition of water, and the doctrine of the four
136
WONDERS OF WATER.
elements has been handed down from age to age, to be
demolished only at the end of the last century. The doctrine
of Aristotle on the subject of the four elements was, in the
belief of the ancients, as indisputable a truth as any axiom
in mathematics ; we are defied to gainsay the opinion of the
illustrious tutor of Alexander. In tracing the progress of
scientific knowledge among mankind, we see the injurious
effects of this subservience to the Greek philosopher, in the
unquestioning deference which was paid to his ideas on these
subjects, and the manner in which free thought was crushed
to enable science to remain in that beaten track first marked
out for her by Aristotle.
Man, in the presence of that universe which it is his
mission to study, may be considered as looking upon an
admirably-contrived clock, the works of which he is to
investigate. He may indulge in endless reflections and
speculations touching the motive power which keeps the
pendulum and hands in motion, he may add hypothesis to
hypothesis, theory to theory, without reaching the truth ;
and even admitting that by a marvellous intuition he suc¬
ceeds in guessing at the secret spring, in comprehending the
mechanism of the clock, his assertions will always be haunted
by secret doubts, because it is impossible to arrive at certain
conclusions without close observation, positive proof, and
demonstrative evidence.
But if he examine this clock attentively, if he carefully
take to pieces the first part of its works which offers itself to
his view, if he separate the wheel-gear, carefully studying the
lesson which is given him to learn, it will not be long ere he
discovers the mainspring of steel which puts the whole
machine in motion; and if he be sufficiently skilful ta
restore the various portions to their respective places, and to
WHAT IS WATER ?
137
set the mainspring again in action, he will see the pendulum
resume its regular beat, he will behold the wheel-gear once
more in motion, and the hands passing over the dial.
He will now comprehend that mechanism the different por¬
tions of which he has been examining separately, and which
he has found how to reunite ; he will now say with certainty,
“It is no hidden genius which animates this inert matter, it
is no mysterious fluid gives life to this piece of mechanism.
A stretched spring communicates its movement to a series
of admirably arranged pieces, to a succession of wheels
following one another, which, in their turn, impart to the
hands the motion which carries them over the divisions of
the dial-plate.”
The chemist, in dissecting the body of Nature, proceeds in
the same manner. When he studies a substance, he separates
it into its component elements ; he takes to pieces its dif¬
ferent parts, and thus analyses it. He then occupies him¬
self in putting together again the portions which he has.
been separating — in uniting the elements which he has been
dividing ; in fact, in the work of synthesis.
In glancing at the infinite number of objects, organic
and inorganic, which cover the surface of the globe — plants,
of every description, animals the most various, minerals
of all sorts — one might feel tempted to believe that an
innumerable quantity of distinct elements composed this
vast array of bodies so different. But such is not the case.
If we analyse the whole body of Nature, trees and animals,
stones and rocks, water and air, we are compelled to admit
that a limited number of elements, united by twos, by threes,,
by fours, form the infinite variety of objects which constitute
the magnificent spectacle we term the universe. The air is.
formed by a mixture of the gases nitrogen and oxygen ; water
WONDERS OF WATER.
133
contains one of the atmospheric gases, oxygen, united to
another gas, hydrogen ; vegetable and animal substances are
again formed of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. If
to these elements be added sulphur, phosphorus, potassium,
sodium, aluminum, calcium, silicium, iron, and some others,
you will have a list of the chief bodies which, by their union,
compose all substances living or inanimate.
Wheat and hemlock, food and poison, are formed of the
same constituent elements ; and about sixty-four simple ele¬
ments alone are found upon the earth and all that is therein.
But it is possible, if not probable, that even some of what
wc call elements are not after all the elements of Nature.
The day may come, perchance, in which science will
subdivide many so-called simple substances, as we are now
dividing water, that element of the ancients, into oxygen and
hydrogen.
There is not, however, anything so very astonishing in
the diversity of beings produced by a few elements. The
arrangement of the various atoms is the cause of the diver¬
sity. Diamond and charcoal have the same chemical com¬
position, and yet present as great diversity of appearance
as exists between an animal and a plant.
The twenty-six letters of the alphabet are the source of
that infinity of words which paint every shade of human
thought. The primitive elements are the letters of Nature’s
alphabet ; living beings, minerals, may be considered as
the words in that great book of Nature which strikes our
imagination and speaks to our reason in sublime language.
So is it with the eight notes of music, which by their com¬
bination produce every harmony which can charm the ear ;
and the rainbow’s seven colours, which produce every tint
in earth or sky.
WHAT IS WATER ?
*39
■oxygen and two of hydrogen ; by means of an electrophorus
we cause an electric spark to pass into the two mixed gases ;
they unite, and form water, which becoming condensed,
produces a vacuum in the apparatus which the mercury
fills. After the experiment, there will remain in the eudio-
The Composition of Water.
We know that water is compounded of oxygen and
hydrogen, but in what proportion are these two gases
united ? That is the question on which we are now
about to enter. We will introduce into an eudiometer in¬
verted in a basin of mercury (Fig. 29) two volumes of
4? 04SJ-.VA
FIG. 29.
140
WONDERS OF WATER.
meter one volume of oxygen,
from which we arrive at the
conclusion that two volumes
of hydrogen and one of
oxygen become condensed
to form water. From the
densities of the gases it can
be shown that two volumes
of hydrogen and one volume
of oxygen condense to form
two volumes of steam.
This result may be veri¬
fied by a celebrated experi¬
ment due to M. Dumas, by
means of an apparatus re¬
presented by Fig. 30, and
the principle of which we
shall describe. A current
of pure hydrogen passes
over an ascertained weight
of oxide of copper in a glass
balloon, a. The oxide of
copper becomes reduced —
that is to say, the oxygen
leaves the copper and unites
with hydrogen to form
water, which water becomes
condensed in the glass re¬
ceiver, b. By weighing the
reduced copper after the ex¬
periment, we shall have the
weight of the oxygen which
WHAT IS WATER?
I4I
lias combined to form a known weight of water, whence the
weight of hydrogen contained in the water is inferred. These
investigations have proved that nine grammes of water were
formed of eight grammes of oxygen, united with one of hydro¬
gen. The composition of water may thus be described in a
couple of lines, but what a long array of centuries, what an
army of pioneers were needed ere these simple facts became
known to mankind. Cavendish, Lemery, Lavoisier, Volta,
Humboldt, Gay-Lussac, Dumas, such were the men by whose
labours the nature of water has been revealed. Two gases,
hydrogen and oxygen. Is it possible that water contains
nothing else? Water, when chemically pure , does contain
nothing else, but pure water does not exist in Nature. The
water of springs and rivers dissolves salts, and, little by little,
wears away the rocks which it meets with in its course — it
dissolves the gases of the air, the oxygen, nitrogen, and car¬
bonic acid ; it contains common salt, sulphate of lime, and
calcareous matter — in one word, it contains all that is soluble
upon the earth.
CHAPTER II.
THE ACTION OF HEAT.
Ebullition.
HEAT acts upon the majority of bodies, and usually
changes their condition; that is to say, it fuses solids,,
and causes liquids to evaporate. We know water under
three aspects, as a solid, a liquid, and a gas. Heat melts
ice and causes it to pass into a liquid state, and again
volatilises the water and causes it to pass into a condition
of vapour.
In order that we may better understand the action and
effect of heat, we will warm some water in a glass vessel,
and then plunge therein a thermometer, yvdiich will indi¬
cate the temperature. The thermometer rises gradually
until the water reaches boiling point. The thermometer
is then at ioo°, and from that moment ceases to rise, yet
the fire furnishes always the same amount of heat ; what
then becomes of the heat ? It is absorbed by the liquid.
Heat forces asunder the molecules of the water, and causes
them to pass into the gaseous state ; and when thus absorbed
heat is insensible to the thermometer. Water boils at the
temperature of ioo° when submitted to the ordinary atmo
THE ACTION OF HEAT.
i43‘
spheric pressure. The atmosphere presses heavily upon the
■water, and, in some sort compresses the molecules of the
liquid, so as to prevent their separating, and passing from the
fluid into the gaseous state
Here (Fig. 31) is a flask containing water, in which we can
form a vacuum, by the aid of an india-rubber tube which is
FIG. 31.
fixed to the plate of an air pump. The water boils and
becomes turned into steam, in consequence of the removal of
the air, though the water is not above the ordinary tempera¬
ture of the room.
When the barometer marks 29*92 inches of pressure, water
boils ac a temperature of ioo°. Th fnnogt ipobieio water
*44
WONDERS OF WATER.
at this pressure is a standard point on the thermometer. As
the pressure varies, as it augments or diminishes, the boiling
point augments or diminishes also. When the pressure is
beyond 29^92 inches, water boils at a temperature above
ioo°. Papin’s apparatus consists of a closed copper vessel,
half filled with water, and heated externally. The steam
which is produced, not being permitted to escape, com¬
presses the water and prevents its boiling at ioo° ; it is thus
possible to keep water still liquid at a temperature of from
ioo° to 300°.
If one pound of mercury at ioo° be mixed with one pound
of water at o°, the mixture will have a temperature of 30 ;
the quantity of heat given out by the mercury in descending
from ioo° to 30 only heats the water up to 30. Water is
said to have therefore, a great capacity for heat.
The capacity of water for heat explains why islands and
countries largely surrounded with water have a mild climate,
and enjoy a temperature nearly uniform. I11 summer the
water of the sea stores up the heat of the sun, and retains it
to mitigate the rigour of the winters ; this is why the Gulf
Stream reaches the polar ice still warm.
When the vapour of water is cooled, it returns to the liquid
state. We will boil some water in a retort furnished with a
condenser (Fig. 32). The steam passes over, becomes cooled
in the receiver, and condenses into the liquid state. In
assuming the gaseous form water abandons the substances
which it held in solution, and is condensed in a state of
purity. Hence it is that the vapour which escapes from the
sea, forms pure water in the clouds. The operation we have
just been engaged upon, is distillation, and chemists fre¬
quently employ a distilling apparatus when they wish to
obtain pure water.
THE ACTION OF HEAT. ^45
The apparatus employed for distillation on a large scale
is thus described. A copper boiler contains the liquid
which is to be distilled. The neck attached to the boiler
is adapted to a spiral tube in a vessel of cold water, which is
intended to condense the vapour. The cold water enters
the refrigerator by the lower part, whilst the hot escapes by
the upper part.
The first portions of the condensed vapour are rejected ;
/A S/l/A'/SJ'f*
FIG. 32.
they contain the gas held in solution by the water. Those
that are afterwards collected are pure.
This apparatus shows us that steam in condensing throws
off heat. This explains how it is that a cloud, when con¬
densing to form rain, produces heat, and thus it may be
said that the clouds convey heat — and bring the solar rays of
the tropics into cold countries.
K
CHAPTER III.
INFLUENCE OF COLD.
WHEN a body is heated, whether it be solid, liquid, or
gaseous, its volume generally becomes larger ; but
to this rule there are exceptions. Let us cool three spherical
glass receivers, a, e, c, Fig. 33, the first of which contains
mercury, the second water, and the third alcohol. We plunge
the receivers into the same vessel, which we have filled with
water, and into which we will throw pieces of ice. The
temperature of the water in the vase, shown by means of a
thermometer, is at first 150 : the three liquids will cool, their
level will gradually sink lower and lower, and the phenomenon
will continue till the thermometer has reached 40; at the
temperature of 40, water ceases to act like the two other
liquids, for while they continue to contract, the water now
commences to dilate.
At the temperature of 40 the water ceases to contract, it
reaches its minimum volume and maximum density. Below
40 the water dilates again, until it assumes the solid form ;
and in becoming ice, the dilatation is sudden and consider¬
able. We shal\ find that this property is of great importance
in the economy of Nature.
INFLUENCE OF COLD.
1 17
Let us examine what occurs in a lake exposed to the co^d
of winter. The surface of the water cools and contracts till
the temperature reaches 40. The water thus becomes heavier,
and sinks by the excess of its weight, and is replaced by lower
and less heavy layers. These new liquid strata, coming in
contact with the icy atmosphere, speedily attain a temperature
of 40 ; they fall in their turn, and so in succession, until the
entire lake has reached the same temperature of 40.
fig. 33.
The upper strata continue subject to the influence of cold,
but below 40 they augment in volume, become lighter, and
remain on the surface of the lake. At o° the surface freezes,
and the ice floats upon the mass ot water of which the
temperature of 40 is sufficiently high to permit the living
creatures which it contains to prolong their existence, b ere
it otherwise, if the water, when it became frozen, diminished
WONDERS OF WATER.
148
its bulk, the ice, being heavier than the water, would sink to
the bottom of the vast reservoirs which Nature presents, and
would there form a solid mass, of which the thickness would
be perpetually augmenting through the winter months.
Rivers and water-courses would be, during severe winters,
compact and frozen, and cause, by their compete solidification,
the most deplorable consequences. But during the winter,
when the peril is most imminent, Nature obliges the water to
dilate in consequence of the cold ; the ice soon floats upon
the rivers, covering them with a protecting mantle, sheltering
the living creatures which it covers, and screening them
beneath its kindly folds.
The dilatation of water by congelation produces an irre¬
sistible force, capable of breaking the most solid substances.
Builders are well aware that some stones are broken by the
action of frost. A good test of the capacity of the stone to
resist the action of frost on the water in its interstices is to
plunge a specimen into a concentrated solution of sulphate of
soda. The stone when taken out of the liquid will be
found to crack after a short time, if it be of bad quality,
on account of the expansion produced by the crystallisation
of the salt. We will take a tube of wrought iron, nearly half
an inch thick. We fill it with water, and stop it hermetically
at one end with a screw. The tube is then placed in a re¬
frigerating mixture, consisting of pounded ice and common
salt. The water in the tube will soon sink to a temperature
of 40, when contraction ceases. As the temperature descends
to 30, to i°, and o°, the bulk of the water increases, and it
passes from the liquid to the solid state. I11 order to effect
this transformation of its molecules, the water requires wider
space than that afforded by its narrow prison, while the iron
tube prevents the water from enlarging. But we shall find
INFLUENCE OF CülD.
149
‘chat the liquid will not be constrained by the metallic walls
which seek to confine it. The water has reached a tempera¬
ture of o°, and congelation is inevitable. It is about to burst
the bonds of iron. The liquid atoms gain irresistible strength,
and the tube of iron is broken by the icy crystals. If you
increase the resistance, if you imprison the water in a cast-
iron shell, the effect will be still the same. The rigidity of
the metal will be conquered in a struggle against a force
which has been estimated at a pressure of 1,000 atmo¬
spheres.
This explains how, during the winter, our water-pipes are
often burst by the frost. The ice breaks the pipes, and
when the thaw follows, the water trickles through cracks
thus opened. This is why flowers and vegetables are un-
•able to resist the action of frost.' The sap which circulates
in their stems solidifies. It increases in bulk, and breaks
its vegetable covering, dealing at the same time a death¬
blow to the plant of which hitherto it has been the life.
CHAPTER IV.
SOLID WATER.
' I TIIS block of ice does not appear at first sight to be
JL more interesting than a block of glass ; but to the
enlightened mind of the philosopher, ice is to glass what an
oratorio of Handel’s is to the cries of the market and the
street. Ice is as the music, glass as the mere noise ; ice is
order, glass confusion.
The Architecture of Atoms.
There are some works of art which, at a first glance,
excite our admiration, but which do not bear close examina¬
tion. Others there are which, like the carving of Cellini,
must be seen close to be enjoyed. In examining the details,
of such a work, you see that the smallest portions of it have
been wrought by a master’s hand, and that parts the least
apparent have been the objects of the most painstaking skill.
You discover everywhere traces of a conscientious artist in
love with his work. But the hand of Nature may be seen
elaborating the most minute details with a carefulness not
to be found in the works of the most painstaking of human
artists. Our unaided eye is often unable to follow her into
SOLID WATER.
I5I
these minute details, and some of her loveliest masterpieces
can only be seen with the help of a microscope.
Snow, for instance, is no confused aggregate of solid par¬
ticles, but is formed of a number of aqueous atoms, symme¬
trically grouped and possessing an infinite variety of forms.
If you assist your natural powers of sight with a microscope,
a flake of snow will present to you the appearance of a
regular geometrical pattern, symmetrically arranged round a
centre. One flake will perhaps resemble a flower with six
petals ; another a hexagonal star cut with the most exquisite
delicacy ; and there are snow stars of every variety of shape.
These flakes are all, however, constructed on the same
model, fashioned from the same type. From a central
nucleus six needles radiate, the angle between every con¬
secutive pair being 6o°. From these needles ramify other
small ones ; to right and left branch forth sprays a thousand
times more slender, but still faithfully inclined at an angle
of 6o°. These snow flowers assume the most marvellous
forms, and present the most varied aspects; one might
mistake them for the ever-shifting images of the kaleido¬
scope ; they are carved in the most delicate material, em¬
broidered on the daintiest muslin.
This is what may be seen in the snow-flakes ; but your
observations must be very rapid, for this exquisite architec¬
ture has but a short duration. A single gleam of sunshine
is sufficient to destroy all the edifice, and the mere heat of
your body may melt the fragile snow-flake. Then the atoms
will separate and the stars will disappear — a single drop of
water has replaced the fairy spectacle.
Ice, like snow, possesses a structure of admirable regularity.
It is formed of geometrical crystals, which can be shown by
the aid of heat.
WONDERS OF WATER
*52
Let us pass a ray from the electric light through a piece of
ice. The luminous intensity of the beam does not change in
traversing the transparent block, but its calorific intensity is
noticeably diminished, as can be demonstrated by the help of
a thermometer. A certain amount of heat has remained in
the ice, and will there act the part of a skilful anatomist,
dissecting in a marvellous manner the solidified block of
water.
If a lens be placed before the block of ice in the middle
of the ray of light, so as to project the image of the ice on a
screen, we shall see stars with six rays and flowers having
six petals. The luminous ray here becomes the messenger
who informs us of the work of dissection, which has been
wrought by heat in the block of ice. The heat melts the
water which has become solidified ; it destroys the structure
of ice, it separates the molecules which the atomic forces
had built up.
Ice and Glaciers.
Crystals of ice form the fields of ice with which the poles
are surrounded ; they cover the Alps with a stainless garment,
and become metamorphosed into water when the rays of the
sun strike the white and shining surface in the spring. But
all the snow is not melted in summer. Beyond a certain
limit, which is called “ the snow-line,” everlasting snow
reigns. Below that line the heat causes the snow, formed
by the cold of winter, to melt completely. But if above this
limiting line there were, every winter, a fresh deposit of
snow, the mountains would, in the course of ages, be charged
with an enormous weight. If the layer of snow merely
increased at the rate of one yard a year, the deposit which
SOLID WATER.
r53
would have gradually become formed during the course of
eighteen centuries, would have amounted to 1,800 yards. And
if instead of limiting ourselves to historic ages, we went back
to the geological periods, we should find that we must
assign to the covering of snow which rests on the tops of
our mountains, a thickness absolutely prodigious. But no
.accumulation of this sort has taken place, and it is impossible
that the sun should place for ever on the summits of the
mountains the water of which he is for ever robbing the sea.
But by what mechanism do the summits of mountains dis¬
charge the excess of snow which crushes them ? Immense
blocks of snow, and formidable glaciers, are sometimes
detached, and form avalanches, which are precipitated into
the valleys, where they return to the liquid state ; but this
rapid and accidental motion is not the only one by which
the snow descends from the mountains. Glaciers glide down
the declivities slowly and progressively, so that whilst their
upper part is situated in the domain of ice, above “ the
snow-line,” their extremities reach the warmer regions, where
the snow is constantly being melted by the action of heat.
We know how easy it is to agglomerate snow by pressing the
flakes together in the hand, and how, by being submitted
to a high pressure, they can be made perfectly hard. A
snow-ball is merely ice in process of formation. Ice itself
is capable of yielding to pressure, and if, consequently, a
thick coating of snow extends over a layer of ice, the latter
urged by the weight of the snow which stretches over it,
will, when on the declivity of a hill, begin gradually to
descend.
This movement is always taking place on the slopes of
those mountains which are charged with snow ; the glacier
glides down the side of the hill on which it came into
154
WONDERS OF WATER.
existence, and attains the warmer regions, where it is con¬
verted into snow. Between the snow and the glacier is-
found what is technically termed the “Névé;” this is ice
in process of formation; it is agglomerated snow, solid
and opaque.
Glaciers are endowed with a singular property, often re¬
marked by tourists ; that of fitting themselves into the
channels in which they move. They exactly accommodate
themselves to the form of the ground on which they rest.
We may consider a glacier a semifluid mass, like treacle
or soft wax, which, without being absolutely liquid, is yet
capable of taking the exact shape of the rock which sup¬
ports it. The glacier is now flattened, now enlarged, and
now contracted, and its centre always advances with more
rapidity than its sides. Attempts have been made to
explain this curious fact by attributing a property called
viscosity to ice, but this explanation cannot be admitted
without experiment ; and even if we are made perfectly
sure of the fact, that solidified water yields in the same
manner as honey or pitch, we are none the less compelled
to seek for the cause of this property of viscosity possessed
by ice.
If you take two fragments of ice and place them side by
side, their surfaces will unite, and the result will be a single
block of ice perfectly homogeneous. This experiment
furnishes an explanation of what takes place in Nature.
We owe this curious experiment to Faraday, — it is known
under the name “ regelation. ” We are indebted to Dr. Tyndall
for other interesting experiments. During a hot day in
summer, Dr. Tyndall went into a shop in the Strand, in the
window of which some pieces of ice were exposed for sale
in a basin. With the permission of the owner of the shop-
SOLID WATER.
IS5
lie took them into his hand, and lifting up the topmost
piece, made use of it to draw all the rest out of the dish.
Though the thermometer was far above freezing-point, the
pieces of ice had become welded.
The regelation of ice is effected even in hot water. Two
distinct fragments, placed in contact in the midst of a liquid
as hot as the hand can bear, will, if held closely together
for a few seconds, freeze and agglomerate in spite of the
heat. It is by virtue of this regelation that ice acts in a
manner similar to a viscid body. Ice breaks as easily as a
piece of glass ; but the separate pieces become welded one
with another, and assume a new form.
A bar of ice, compressed successively within a series of
moulds, each more bent than the last, can be transformed
into a circular ring. The bar, according to one theory,
breaks in the mould, but has scarcely become broken before
it freezes again, and forms a single mass homogeneous and
compact. It is the same principle which permits the forma¬
tion of snow-balls, squeezed between the hands. If we
violently compress a large snowball in a mould, we can
obtain a cup of ice, perfectly transparent, from the regela¬
tion of the snow. If the snow be piled up in a spherical
mould, a sphere of ice both solid and transparent is obtained.
Those who dwell among the mountains, uninitiated as they
are into the theories of physical science, frequently avail
themselves of the property of regelation possessed by solidi¬
fied water, in crossing the deep crevasses by snow-bridges.
By stepping with great care over the bridge which the
agglomerated snow-flakes form, their strength can be tested,,
and the mass takes, under the influence of regelation, a
hardness and rigidity which renders it capable of supporting
a heavy weight. The guides in Switzerland are in the habit
of crossing very deep crevasses in this manner.
*56
WONDERS OF WATER.
The reader now understands one of the theories as to
how a glacier makes its way through the defiles of the Alps,
insinuates itself into the excavations of the soil, penetrates
narrow gorges, bends and winds backwards and forwards
over the shoulders of the mountains, takes the impress of
the furrows which wrinkle hill and valley, and sinks into
the crevices of rocks. Ice wears and polishes the surfaces
along which it glides ; its lower part is filled with pebbles,
which perform the same part as do the hard fragments ad¬
hering to glass-paper. The ground becomes furrowed by
these stones, .which move slowly with the glacier. When the
glacier has ceased to exist, when it is converted into water
under the action of solar heat, it leaves indications of its
existence, its channel being covered with the marks which
have been traced.
In all chains of mountains, in every country, we see in
a great number of places, deep flutings furrowing the rocks,
and smoothly-planed surfaces, which speak to the eye of the
observer in plain language, testifying that a glacier must
have formerly existed in the place where he is now standing.
The valley of the Grimsel, in the Bernese Alps, presents
an aspect highly characteristic of the action of the glacier.
The rocks are rounded and polished, and everywhere is to
be found traces of the furrows formed by the pebbles which
adhered to the ice. The same features may be observed in
the valley of the Rhone, on the sides of the Jura Mountains.
North America and certain parts of Asia have at one time
been seas of ice, and the cedars of Lebanon now flourish
over the nroraines of pre-historic times.
Glaciers, ice, snow, and the nfak , are not the sole
varieties of solidified water which Nature presents to our
wiew. Frequently among the mountains we meet with cavi-
SOLID WATER.
157
ties full of water, 011 the surface of which layers of ice form,
themselves, of quite a different character to the glacier-ice.
This water-ice is more compact than the other kind, and
does not contain any of the capillary fissures which colour
the ice with that beautiful blue tint so much admired by
tourists. At the bottom of rapid rivers, such as the Rhine,
are sometimes collected together fragments of a sort of
spongy solidified ice, known to the dwellers on the banks
by the name of u bottom-ice” Hail, again, presents to us the
example of a totally different variety of solid water. The
texture of hailstones is not crystalline, but is characterised
by concentric layers, disposed round a central nucleus..
The ice which forms upon ponds and rivers is the kind
which has been most carefully studied. We have shown
that this ice has a crystalline structure, a fact we may
confirm for ourselves by examining the motley designs,
which are to be seen on the panes of our windows. M.
Haas has discovered a process by which the hoar-frost
designs may be retained upon a window. He exposes to
cold a horizontal plate of glass, covered with a thin layer of
water, holding in suspension enamel powder. The hoar¬
frost, keeping the enamel powder imprisoned, forms numerous
ramified figures. We have, therefore, arborescences of
enamel when the ice is evaporated, and by placing in an oven
the glass thus dried, we shall cause the melted enamel to
fix for ever the crystallised forms traced by the hoar-frost.
Ice has, indeed, been often met with in real crystals, formed
of hexagonal or triangular prisms. Dr. Clarke took from
under the bridge at Cambridge several large rhomboidic
crystals of ice. These cases, however, are exceptional, ice
seldom presenting a more crystalline structure than glass.
CHAPTER V.
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER.
Solution.
' I' ^HE phenomenon of solution of salt in water, common
JL and well known as it is, possesses considerable in¬
terest. We will throw a handful of saltpetre (nitrate of potash)
into a vessel filled with water ; this salt dissolves readily.
We then throw a second handful of the same salt, then a
third, then a fourth ; but when a certain amount has been
dissolved by the liquid, it refuses to take up any more, and
the excess of salt remains undissolved at the bottom of the
vessel. The water is now said to be saturated.
On heating this water, we find the salt which is in excess
becomes dissolved, so that when the liquid is in a state
of ebullition, it will absorb a much more considerable
quantity of salt than it could contain at a lower tempera¬
ture.
Hot water dissolves the majority of salts with greater facility
than cold water. Some salts, however — for example, common
kitchen salt — dissolve as well in cold as in boiling water. If
we allow warm saturated water to become cold, the water
will relinquish the excess of salt by depositing it in geo-
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER. 159
metrical crystals upon the sides of the vessel (Fig. 34). Car
bonate of soda, sulphate of copper, and alum, crystallise
with great facility in water, and clothe the bottom of the vase
in which they are placed with needles and prisms of the
most remarkable appearance.
Water does not dissolve all salts in the same proportion;
a pint of water can take up more than its own weight of
sulphate of soda, whilst it cannot dissolve more than one ten-
thousandth part of its own weight of sulphate of lime. Water
charged with carbonic acid acts upon a great number of
FIG. 34.
stones ; it dissolves, as we have seen, carbonate of lime, and
can even decompose granite rocks. The union of water with
some substances is accompanied by the evolution of heat ;
thus water, which is not affected by bodies such as gold,
silver, quartz, carbon, sulphur, etc., is decomposed by potas¬
sium and sodium. So also when water is added to quick¬
lime, a new compound is formed, with a copious evolution
of heat (Fig. 35).
The Colour and Transparency of Salts.
Who would believe that colourless water could colour or
i6o
WONDERS OF WATER.
render transparent the salts which crystallise in its bosom ?
Witness the following experiments.
We take some crystals of sulphate of copper which have
an exquisite shade of dark blue ; their brightness, their
transparency, are remarkable, and they reflect the light
which plays upon their regular facets. We will confine
these crystals in a stove (Fig. 36) heated to 120°, a tempera¬
ture at which the water evaporates, which was united with
, the crystals of sulphate of copper. At the end of some hours,
the salt will be perfectly dry ; but the crystals are destroyed
in consequence of the departure of the water ; the colour
and transparency are no longer in the crystal when deprived
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER. i6l
of the water of crystallisation. These blue crystals, regular
when they contained water, are, now that they have become
dry, changed into a white and opaque powder.
We will next take transparent crystals of carbonate of
soda. We will diy them, and as soon as they lose the water
which they contained, we shall find that they have assumed
the appearance of a white and shapeless powder.
fig. - 36.
The water thus imprisoned in the mass of crystallised
bodies is united, according to definite relations, with the
molecules of the salt. For instance, five molecules of
water unite with one molecule of sulphate of copper to form
those beautiful blue crystals, which make such striking objects
some chemists’ shops.
A large number of minerals contain naturally water oj
L
IÔ2
WONDERS OF WATER.
combination , which is often associated with beautiful trans¬
parency. The translucent gypsum which is so frequently
met with in the quarries near Paris, is a hydrated sulphate
of lime, which possesses a singular crystalline form. This
gpysum, when calcined, loses the water which it contains,
and becomes transformed into a white powder well known as
a plaster. Azurite, one of the most beautiful stones which
the mineral world offers to our view, and which has a regular
crystalline form and a beautiful dark blue colour, contains
also water of crystallisation, and becomes destroyed when
the water is expelled, for the mineral then loses the shades
of azure which procure for it its name.
Plants and Animals.
Still more important is the chemical part played by
water in the animal and vegetable kingdoms. We all
know that the liquid element nourishes plants, and we find
that it constitutes a great portion of the bulk of the trees of
our forests, the fruit and seed of those trees, and the bodies
of all animals. The philosopher Thales, the celebrated head
of the Ionian school, said, two thousand years ago, “Water is
the principle of everything ; plants and animals are merely
condensed water, and it is into water that they will be
resolved after death.” This assertion is not so exaggerated
as at first sight might appear.
We will warm at a stove a handful of green herbs which
have been carefully weighed. We will wait until the water
has had time to evaporate, and will then examine the dried
plants.
These herbs, green and brilliant, fresh and living, have
become dead and calcined from the departure of the water
their weight is diminished by four-fifths ; instead of weighing
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER. 163
five ounces, they now only weigh but one ounce ; and in
depriving them of water, we have taken out of them all that
constituted their life ; we have removed the sap, the colour¬
ing matter, we have, in fact, destroyed the whole organism.
All animals, including man, are formed principally of
water; the presence of some globules transforms water into
blood — a few mineral and organic substances transform
water into milk. Pure milk contains 85 per cent, of water,
and the blood of animals 97 per cent. A man weighing
ten stone would not weigh above two stone if his body were
completely dried.
These facts will suffice to give some idea of the ex¬
traordinary importance of the part played by water in the
constitution of living beings. If water were suddenly to dis¬
appear from this world, everything that breathes here below
would be annihilated. Seas would dry up, and the animated
world, which exists in the ocean, perish. In the place
of those liquid plains on which wave follows wave, immense
and arid deserts would present themselves to the eye of the
spectator.
The rivers, streams, and brooks, which course through the
land, would present the appearance of dried-up tracks ; the
little rills would no longer cause their pleasant murmur to
be heard. Trees, plants, vegetables of every sort, would be
completely destroyed ; in losing the water which they con¬
tain, they would lose both their sap and their life ; the
grandest oak of our forests would be transformed into a
crumbling mass.
The majority of stones would also change their appear¬
ance ; transparent gypsum would become white powder,
blue carbonate of copper and the green crystals of malachite
would be changed into colourless ashes ; building-stone, slate,
L 2
164 WONDERS OF WATER.
the strata of coal, would wear an appearance totally different
from that which they at present present.
The air deprived of vapour, and the clouds which float
within it, would no longer present the magnificent spectacles
produced by sunbeams on the clouds ; the sun would no
longer as he sets tinge the clouds with crimson and gold,
and the entire surface of the globe would present a terrible
picture of desolation.
BOOK V.
THE USES OF WATER.
CHAPTER I.
WATER AND AGRICULTURE.
WHEN the summer sun has for a long time been burn¬
ing the parched earth, when the sky has refused the
benefits of rain, then the trees, the flowers, and all vegetation
appear to mourn and languish ; the leaves become flaccid,
the branches droop, the meadows lose their brilliant verdure,
and the corn bends under the weight of its full ears. If the
sky becomes dark, if the thick clouds begin to discharge and
moisten the ground with a profusion of rain, then vegetation
speedily revives and absorbs with eagerness the precious gift.
Everything seems as though newly awakening to life. But
the husbandman must not always wait till the clouds bring him
that fluid which is necessary for his land ; he has to learn
how to provide against droughts. Plants, like animals, are
born, grow, reproduce themselves, and die. Like animals,
they breathe, and like them they imbibe nourishment. Their
i66
WONDERS OF WATER.
leaves are the organs of respiration ; they absorb the carbonic
acid of the air, and under the influence of the solar rays they
exhale oxygen and assimilate the carbon necessary to their
development. The roots are the organs of imbibition ; they
search in the soil for such elements as are necessary to the
nourishment of vegetable life, and it is water which brings
these elements to the roots in a state of solution.
It is not every kind of water that can fertilise the soil and
facilitate vegetation ; there are some waters which, being
injurious to the development of plants, render the earth
barren. The stagnant waters of marshes and peat bogs put
an end to organic life, being charged with astringent matter
which withers the foliage and paralyses the vegetation.
Those waters which have been flowing through a very shady
country, whose course has been under tall trees, retard the
growth of plants ; they bring into the fields of grain the seeds
of weeds, which spring up to the detriment of the cultivated
plant.
Waters from badly aerated sources, those formed from
the melting of snow, are injurious both to plants and ani¬
mals. Such waters are unfit for use until they have been
exposed to the air for a considerable time. According to
Sinclair, water impregnated with iron has a similar effect
upon plants as on animals, and serves to endue grass and
herbs with tonic qualities. Those waters which contain an
appreciable quantity of sulphate of iron are pernicious, while
carbonate of iron is still more injurious. Carbonate of iron
encrusts the tissue of plants, closes their pores, obstructs
their cells, and gradually kills them. Brackish waters, and
even the water of the sea, produce good results if employed
with care and in proportion to the dryness of the climate.
Every one knows what beneficial effects salt meadows have
WATER AND AGRICULTURE.
167
upon cattle, and the improvement caused in the quality of
the meat. The water of streams and that which is bestowed
on us by the clouds are equally beneficial and nourishing to
the soil. '
Irrigation and Drainage.
Have you never found pleasure in cultivating a plant in a
flower-pot on your window-sill ? Did you not lavish care on
the little shrub, the progress of which you were watching ?
You were present at the birth of the first little bud; you
saw it metamorphosed into a beautiful flower with fresh and
vivid colouring. How often have you admired its petals at
the moment when they were expanding under the caresses
of the sun. What made that plant thus grow beneath your
eyes ? It was the nourishment you supplied every morning
in the form of water. In the evening the leaves and petals,
exhausted by the heat of the day, had lost their smiling
beauty and seemed to droop, but a little water speedily
revived them. Did you never remark that the earthen pot
which contained your plant was pierced at the lower end
with a small hole ? Did you not observe that the saucer
which held the flower-pot often filled with water while you
were watering your plant ? The water which had been
poured into the pot had traversed the small potful of earth
through which the roots expand, and the excess of liquid,
not absorbed by the roots, settled in the saucer by means of
the hole at the bottom of the pot. Without this hole the
water would have remained in the bottom of the pot, and
the roots immersed constantly in water would have become
decomposed, and thus cause the decay of the plant. Your
agriculture has prospered because it was in conformity with
the rules of irrigation and drainage, and the husbandman
I
1 68 WONDERS OF WATER.
should manage the fields he cultivates on the same princi¬
ples as the flower-pot. It is by artificial irrigation that
the soil is to be ameliorated ; but the waters ought to be
distributed judiciously, otherwise the land is injured rather
than benefited. After having watered the earth, and
after the ground has absorbed the water which has been so
abundantly poured into it, it is necessary that the excess of
liquid should be carried off. Irrigation must be succeeded
r
FIG. 37. — IRRIGATION BY INFILTRATION.
by drainage. Irrigation is advantageous to all soils, but
especially so in the case of a sandy soil, and if the water be
a little muddy or slimy irrigation not only enriches the land
by the nourishment it brings, but lessens the porous charac¬
ter of the soil by the sediment which is deposited from the
water. It is necessary to understand thoroughly what amount
of water is requisite for the purposes of irrigation, the volume
with which the stream employed flows, the rapidity of its
WATER AND AGRICULTURE. 1 69
current, the absorbent nature of the soil, the nature of the
climate, all should be the subject of most attentive study.
In warm climates the amount of water employed in each
watering should be sufficient to cover the entire irrigated
surface to a depth of four inches ; or if the water flow
continuously on the land, the proper allowance is forty
fig. 38.
tons of water per acre per diem. The water being con¬
veyed to the highest part of a piece of land, the question
arises as to how it is to be distributed so as to spread
uniformly over the whole surface, and thus benefit all the
WONDERS OF WATER.
plants. We shall not attempt to describe all the various
methods of irrigation that have been tried, but shall
briefly describe the plans that have been found most bene¬
ficial. Fig. 37 represents irrigation by infiltration. The
water arriving by a feeding trench is distributed into other
fig. 40.
fig. 41.
secondary trenches, b b. These trenches are simply furrows
between those formed by the ploughshare for cultivation.
WATER AND AGRICULTURE.
171
Water is successively poured into all the secondary trenches.
We commence, for example, with the trench which termi¬
nates at e, a point on the feeding canal. The feeding canal
is closed at c, and the water sinks into the soil as far as d.
It not unfrequently happens that the water occupies a
lower level than the field which is to be irrigated, and then
it becomes necessary to raise the water by means of machines,
one of which is shown in Fig. 38.
By drainage we cany off the superabundant moisture,
which might otherwise injure the development of plants.
fig. 42.
Trenches are dug in the land to be drained. At the bottom
of these trenches cylindrical pipes are placed (a, Fig. 39).
Into this drain is thrown the earth which has been extracted,
and nothing appears on the surface of the ground. But
the superabundant water within the soil sinks down to the
bottom of the drain, and enters the pipes by their joints.
These pipes, being on an incline, carry the water from the
field to where they discharge into a stream. Occasionally
drains are employed of the form shown in Fig. 40, in which
a stone channel conveys the water. Sometimes merely loose
172
WONDERS OF WATER.
stones are laid at the bottom of the trench, as in Fig. 41.
The drain being situated below the surface, it is sometimes
necessary to know how it works. For this purpose the
part shown in Fig. 42 is employed. The water enters the
vertical pipe by one tube and leaves it by another ; a little
earth being removed, which conceals the top of the vertical
tube, the noise of the water can be heard.
Warping.
Every year the Nile overflows its banks, pours its waters
over the surrounding fields, and deposits that loam which,
from its fertilising properties, gives wealth to the immense
valley through which its waters glide, nature doing that in
Egypt which man performs in other countries by a process
which is termed warping. The object of this operation is
to cause the land to be fertilised with muddy water. The
waters are allowed to settle until the sediment is deposited ;
the pure water as it runs off is replaced by more turbid
water, and the process is continued until the soil has received
a sufficient supply. Warping is a means of creating, at
slight expense, a new and fertile soil.
Agriculture has to provide the means of utilising marshes
and swamps. It is necessary for these noxious places to be
drained before wheat or other useful crops can replace
useless reeds and marsh plants.
CHAPTER II.
SALT WATER,
Sea Salt.
MONG the most important industrial products a fore-
±~\. most place must be given to sea salt, or chloride of
sodium. Sea water contains that invaluable substance
which appears at all our meals, and is daily employed in
domestic economy to season our food and preserve our
meat. A considerable quantity of salt is annually used in
agriculture, and the industrial arts employ a vast amount in
producing sulphate of soda, hydrochloric acid, and several
chlorides of great importance in the chemical arts.
Chloride of sodium is procured from three different
sources, from beds of rock-salt , from salt springs , and from
sea water. In the former case, when the rock-salt is pure
pits and subterranean galleries are excavated, from which
the miners bring forth the valuable commodity. Eut when th c
bed of salt is not such as would, either in quantity or quality,
repay the trouble of working the mine in this way, a simpler
and cheaper method is resorted to. Instead of sending
miners into the mines to hew out the salt, fresh water is
introduced. In the territory of Salzburg, in Swabia, and in
*7 4
WONDERS OF WATER.
a number of other localities, narrow shafts are sunk into
the salt-beds, terminating in large spaces called dissolving
chambers. Into these chambers water is poured, which dis¬
solves the rock-salt and becomes saturated. The water is
then raised to the level of the ground by the aid of pumps,,
and evaporated under the action of heat, when the crystals
of salt are copiously deposited.
Salt springs arise from the infiltration of water which in its
passage through the earth has encountered beds of rock-salt.
These waters are rarely saturated with salt, not containing
more than 3 to 4 per cent. ; in this case the volume of water
to be evaporated would necessitate too large an expenditure
of heat if applied directly. The solution is first concentrated
by exposure to the air in a peculiar apparatus. This
consists of bundles of brushwood fixed in wooden frames,
and surmounted by small troughs. The salt water is passed
into these troughs by means of pumps, and trickles from
the troughs upon the brushwood, and the water thus tra¬
verses the mass of brushwood, falling drop by drop through
its whole thickness. The water being constantly in contact
with currents of air, is subjected during its passage to con¬
siderable evaporation, and reaches the lower basin in a more
concentrated state. If the operation be repeated many
times, and if the apparatus be situated in a position exposed
to the wind, the evaporation takes place very rapidly. In
the salt works of Sooden, near Allendorf, in Hesse, a water
which contains 4 per cent, of salt before percolating for the
first time through the brushwood, contains 22 per cent,
after having percolated six times.
This mode of extracting salt is in frequent use in many
countries, in which are erected vast brushwood filters
upwards of 500 yards in length, by 13 in height and 4 in
FIG. 43. — SALTERNS UPON THE COAST OF THE MEDITERRANEE
SALT WATER.
177
breadth. The salt water may be seen trickling slowly
through the piled fagots, and then gradually concentrating,
until it becomes sufficiently saturated to be subjected ta
evaporation by fire. When the water is found to contain
from fourteen to twenty-two per cent, of salt it is sub¬
mitted to the action of heat. The impurities are first
deposited, and subsequently the chloride of sodium. Of
the richest and most abundant sources of salt, the first
rank must be given to the ocean. The waters of the sea
are evaporated in the South in vast reservoirs, called
salterns, by the action of heat which the sun prodigally
lavishes. On the shores of the Mediterranean the salt water
flows into vast basins, where it evaporates ; and when the
liquid has attained from 20 to 24 of Beaume’s scale it is made
to flow into other basins, where the salt is deposited (Fig.
43). These works are of the greatest importance, for the
sea water does not merely contain chloride of sodium, but
also holds in solution some other salts of considerable utility.
The following table will show the ingredients of one
thousand parts of sea water :
OCEAN.
MEDITERRANEAN
Chloride of Sodium
. 25-IO
27 • 22
Chloride of Potassium
. 0-50
O • 70
Chloride of Magnesium
. 3 '5o
6 • 14
Sulphate of Magnesium
. 5-73
7 -02
Sulphate of Calcium .
. 0 • 15
0-15
Carbonate of Magnesium
. 0 • 18
0 • 19
Carbonate of Calcium .
. O -02
0 -OI
Carbonate of Potassium
. 0-23
0 • 21
Iodides, Bromides, &c., in
Pure Water
. 964-54
958-36
Total » .
IOOO ' OO
IOOO • 00
M
178
WONDERS OF WATER.
Certain lakes contain a still larger proportion of sea salt. The
waters of the Dead Sea, and those of the Great Salt Lake in
the Mormon country contain as much as eleven per cent., but
these abundant sources of salt are exceptional. The waters
of salterns, after having abandoned the chloride of sodium
they hold in solution, contain also sulphuric acid in the form
of sulphates of soda, potash, and magnesia. M. Bellard has
devoted himself to a patient study of these waters, and has
found that the sulphate of soda can be profitably extracted.
Sulphate of soda is employed in the manufacture both of
soda and glass ; it is one of the most important chemical
products, and the discovery of the method of extracting
it from the ocean may be considered as one of the most
important modern discoveries.
CHAPTER III.
ICE AND ITS ARTIFICIAL MANUFACTURE.
E' VERY one understands the use of ice ; it is well known
v that it preserves organised bodies from putrefaction.
The decomposition of a substance requires a certain degree
of heat, and fermentation is impossible below a certain tem¬
perature. The employment of ice placed in small quantities
round fresh meat, fish, etc., enables these perishable articles
of food to be kept for several days, and when the tempera¬
ture is below that of melting ice the length of time during
which they can be preserved is still more considerable. In
Russia and Siberia animals destined for food are slaughtered
at the beginning of winter, the carcasses are frozen and pre¬
served by the cold. In this way the food is saved which the
animals would have required during the winter. In the far
North, in Greenland and in Davis’s Straits, those English
sailors who are engaged in the seal fisheries expose beef to
the freezing air, and are in this way able to have fresh meat
during the whole of their long voyage. In Siberia a fossil
elephant has been found admirably preserved in ice. The
carcass of this antediluvian animal having been imprisoned
during centuries in an icy covering, the flesh was found
M 2
i8o
WONDERS OF WATER.
as fresh as that of an animal just struck down by the
hunter.
1 he culinary art makes daily use of ice in the preparation
of cooling drinks, the consumption of which is so great
during the summer months. The articles to be cooled are
enclosed in a vessel which is plunged into a mixture of ice
and salt (Fig. 44).
Medicine also finds in ice a valuable remedy against cer-
FIG. 44.
tain maladies. A vast quantity of rough ice is brought ever}"
year, at great expense, in ships from Norway and other cold
countries. We may, therefore, infer that any machines for
artificially producing ice at a moderate cost would be of great
importance. Drinks cooled by means of ice were appreci¬
ated as highly by the ancients as by our modern gourmands.
ICE AND ITS ARTIFICIAL MANUFACTURE. l8l
The Romans had learnt how to preserve snow and ice in
caves, which answered the same purpose as our ice-houses,
and snow-water was with them a favourite beverage. At night
chariots covered with straw brought the snow of the
Apennines to the ancient capital of the world. Galleys trans¬
ported into Italy the ice of Sicily, which was considered
preferable to all others in the opinion of the ancient gas¬
tronomers, because it had been formed in the vicinity of
burning craters in which lava boiled. A temple was erected
for the sole purpose of preserving the snow during the
summer, and the priests of Vulcan drew therefrom an
enormous income. Christian priests afterwards kept up
this good custom, and the Bishop of Catania at the end cf
the last century obtained a large sum annually from the
working of a mass of snow which he possessed on Mount
Ætna.
At the present day, as in classical times, the Ural and
Caucasian Mountains supply the East. Ice packed in skins
and enveloped in straw is transported on horseback. In
France the consumption of ice has not as yet become con¬
siderable, but in the United States of America it has attained
enormous proportions. Collected during the winter on the
immense lakes of Canada, it is divided into blocks, and
transported to Boston, whence ships convey it to the Antilles,
the Cape, and even to Australia. The city of Boston alone
consumes annually 100,000 tons of ice, and 4,000 workmen
are employed in this branch of commerce. Norway is the ice¬
house of Europe, from which other countries draw supplies.
GoulanxVs Apparatus .
In order to convert a certain volume of water into ice it
is necessary to cool this water; or, in other words, to
WONDERS OF WATER.
l82
ubtract its heat. Cold is not, as has been imagined, a reals
physical agent of which the properties are exactly opposed
to heat ; a body is said to be cold by contrast with a body
that is warm. How is the water which we wish to congeal
to be cooled artificially ? How is it to be deprived of its
heat? Nothing is simpler, if we only understand how to
FIG. 45.
apply certain physical laws. It is well known that when a
body passes from a solid into a liquid, or from a liquid into
a gaseous state, it generally absorbs heat, and thus cools
whatever may be in contact with it. If you throw a drop
of ether on your hand the liquid will rapidly evaporate, and
pass from the liquid to the gaseous state ; but by the act of
ICE AND ITS ARTIFICIAL MANUFACTURE. 1 83
evaporation the ether absorbs heat from your hand and leaves
a strong sensation of cold. If you throw a handful of nitrate
of ammonia into a glass of water the salt will dissolve ; from
a solid it passes into a liquid, and a change of temperature
will accompany this transition. These simple experiments
contain the principles of the refrigerating apparatus.
FIG. 46.
Fig. 45 shows a system of cylinders arranged in a wooden
vessel so as to revolve by turning round a handle. Into these
cylinders we pour the water which is to be congealed. The
external vessel is full of water, into which we throw a few
184
WONDERS OF WATER.
pounds of nitrate of ammonia. The salt in dissolving ab¬
sorbs heat from the cylinders with which the solution is in
contact, and from the water which they contain. If now
we turn the handle so as to make the salt dissolve rapidly
by the agitation of the spiral palettes, we shall presently
find blocks of ice in the cylinders originally filled with water.
On a similar principle household refrigerators are made
(Fig. 46.) A cylinder a filled with water to be frozen is
surrounded by a refrigerating mixture ; * the cylinder being
turned round by the handle, the water it contains is speedily
transformed into ice ; at the lower part of the apparatus a
valve which is opened by means of a small lever permits
the escape of the water from the freezing mixture. This
wrater falls into a basin in which are placed the bottles of
wine to be cooled.
* There are various compositions which may be made use of in
preparing a refrigerating mixture : —
PARTS,
Sea Salt . . . I
Pounded Ice . . I
Water ... 10
Salammoniac . . 5
Saltpetre ... 7
Water . . . 1
'Nitrate of Ammonia . I
Sulphate of Soda . 8
Hydrochloric Acid . 5
LOWERING OF TEMPERATURE.
j- from +io° to - 120.
I* from +io° to -1 6°.
j from + io° to-io°.
i from + 10° to- 1 70.
The employment of acids is always disagreeable or dangerous,
and should if possible be avoided. Nitrate of ammonia is preferable.
When the solution is no longer cold it may be evaporated, and thus
the salt is reproduced, and will serve again on another occasion.
ICE AND ITS ARTIFICIAL MANUFACTURE.
i85
Carre s Freezing Apparatus.
This machine consists of a cylinder in communication by
means of tubes with a vessel in the form of a truncated cone,
having a cavity in the centre. This apparatus, hermetically
closed, is furnished with a thermometer which indicates the
temperature of the interior of the cylinder. We first heat
the cylinder, while the conical vessel is plunged into cold
water ; in the central cavity of the conical vessel is placed a
metallic cylinder filled with water. When the thermometer
reaches 130° the stove is replaced by a vessel of water, the
conical vessel is sensibly cooled, and we are soon able to
take from the cavity a block of ice.
Ice is thus produced by means of coal, and the apparatus
can be used over and over again without any change. It is
sufficient to heat anew the large cylinder.
But how does this apparatus act ? Its mechanism is
extremely simple. The cylinder contains ammoniacal gas
dissolved in water. When the water is heated the gas es¬
capes from the liquid, and passes into the conical receiver
through the connecting tubes. But on arriving there it finds
no outlet, and the heat continually expelling from the water
fresh quantities of gas, the ammonia becomes liquefied in
the conical vessel. The generating cylinder is then plunged
into cold water, and, when thus chilled, the water in the
cylinder is capable of receiving back the ammoniacal gas.
The gas which is liquefied in the conical receiver returns
to the gaseous state, and the change is accompanied by an
absorption of heat at the expense of the water contained
in the central cavity of the receiver. The water thus cooled
is turned into ice. It may thus be seen how simple is this
apparatus, and how ingenious is its mechanism, which is
1 86
WONDERS OF WATER.
far preferable to any previous method. It is still, however,
capable of improvement, as its inventor, M. Carré, has him¬
self proved. The small dimensions of the apparatus prevent
its furnishing large quantities of ice at a time ; it does not
act continuously, and could never be of much commercial
value. Another apparatus, which acts continuously, has been
constructed on a much larger scale, and has successfully
solved the important problem of the artificial formation of
ice. A large boiler a (Fig. 47) contains the solution of
ammonia. The gas escapes and becomes liquefied in a re¬
ceiver (b), which is kept cool by the water which falls from
a reservoir (c). The liquid ammonia penetrates into the
hollow sides of the refrigerator (g), in which are placed
cylinders filled with water to be congealed. A special
arrangement permits the exhausted water of the boiler, after
being cooled, to penetrate into a vessel (e) put in commu¬
nication with the cylinder (d), into which is distilled the
ammonia volatilised in the refrigerator. The original liquid
thus regenerated is reconveyed into the boiler by means of
a pump (f).* This apparatus acts with great regularity, and
it is astonishing to see the blocks of ice issuing from this
refrigerator, which are formed as if by magic, without any
visible agent to divulge the secret of their formation.
* A complete description of the numerous parts of this apparatus
requires a voluminous explanation, on which we cannot enter. Further
details may be found in the Report of M. Paulett in the “ Bulletin of
the Society of Encouragement, 1863.”
CHAPTER IV.
MINERAL WATERS.
Popular Errors.
NOTHING has more exercised the talents of inventors
of incredible stories than the origin of spring and
mineral waters. The reader can judge of this from some
miraculous occurrences narrated by ancient authors.
According to Theophrastus, the water of the Crathis
turned the animals white which drank of it. According: to
Ovid, Vibius Sequester, and Antigonus, the waters of the
Sybaris dyed the hair a golden yellow.
Electro similes faciunt auroque capillos.
Ovid.
Shepherds who wished to have white sheep led them to
drink from the river Aliacrnon, while those who desired
them to be black or brown made them quench their thirst
in the Axius. In Boeotia, near the temple of Trophonius,
there existed, by the river Orchomenus, two fountains, of
which one had the power of quickening the memory, while
the other destroyed it. One was called Mnemosyne, the
other Lethe.
Ï90 WONDERS OF WATER.
Varro states that near Cessus there ran a brook namec
Nous (the Greek word for intelligence), which faculty its
waters gave to the mind ; while there was in the Island ol
Cos a spring which rendered him who drank of it stupid.
There was another at Zama which endowed the human
voice with admirable force and tone. The water of Lyncestius,
in Thrace, caused a gentle intoxication ; while, on the con¬
trary, according to Eudoxus, the water of Clitorium gave
a distaste for wine. Theopompus also cites a great number
of examples of intoxicating water. Mucien goes still further ;
he seriously affirms that in the Isle of Andros a foun¬
tain consecrated to Bacchus furnished real wine at certain
seasons of the year. At Cyzique the fountain of Cupid
cured love. Crésias states, and Antigonus confirms the fact,
that there existed in India a pool on the surface of which
nothing, not even a dead leaf, could float. Perjurers could
not endure the waters of Olachus, in Bithynia ; they were
burnt therein as in boiling oil. In Thrace certain waters
proved instantaneous death to those who drank of them. If
we believe Vibius Sequester, a person who bathed several
times in Lake Triton, in Thrace, would become metamor¬
phosed into a bird. The inhabitants of Lycia, according to
Pliny, consulted the fountain of Limyra on the subject of
future events, by throwing food to the fish which dwelt there.
When the response was favourable the fish eagerly seized
their prey ; but if otherwise, they pushed aside with their tails
whatever was offered them.
At Colophon there was a fountain which endued with
divining faculties all who drank of it, but at the same time -
shortened the period of their life. This fountain was
situated in a cavern consecrated to Apollo, and Tacitus tells
us that it was there Germanicus received the prophetic
intimation of his premature death.
MINERAL WATERS.
ï9i
The springs of Hippocrene and Castalia inspired poets.
The fountain of Diodone revealed the future by the soft
murmur of its waters ; and an aged priestess, constantly
seated on its banks, comprehended and could translate its
mysterious language.
The fountain of Patras furnished certain prognostics
on the subject of diseases. A mirror was placed on the
surface of the water, and after an invocation to the deities
the image of the sick person appeared, and was beheld
dead or alive, according to the turn which his malady had
taken. The fountain of Apone, near Padua, enjoyed a great
renown among the ancients, who consulted it frequently.
Playing dice used to be thrown into its transparent waters,
and the side uppermost furnished the answer.
It is not only from the records of ancient Greece and
Italy that we may borrow these superstitious legends,
mediaeval tradition and the folk-lore of every time and
country abound in similar beliefs concerning the healing
efficacy of certain waters. A great number of them are
still perpetuated even among us ; and the ignorant peasantry
of many countries tell you various tales on the subject, of
which they are very unwilling to reject the authenticity;
but the pure waters of our fountains and mirror-like lakes
conceal no such mysteries.
Farewell, then, lovely naiads, timid nymphs, who formerly
concealed yourselves among the reeds. Farewell, charming-
divinities of the waves, we shall never behold you more.
Touching poetry of fables, ingenious dreams of imagination,
your reign has passed away for ever.
The Action of Mineral Waters.
To exaggerated credulity succeeds an equally exaggerated
192
WONDERS OF WATER.
scepticism. After having too easily admitted the most marvel¬
lous statements, we become apt to ignore altogether the bene¬
ficial action of mineral waters. In our own days, however,
more reasonable opinions have gained ground, and no one at
present doubts the efficacy of mineral springs in healing
a great number of maladies. It is, however, a very generally
prevailing opinion, and perhaps a just one, that the efficacy
of the waters is due in great measure to the beneficial
influence of a pleasant journey, and to the salubrity of the
country, in which health may be as contagious as sickness is
elsewhere. But making every allowance for other influences
besides those produced by the mineral waters, it must still
be conceded that certain waters have a real effect, an effect
attested by animals themselves, who cannot be affected by
delusions of the imagination.
How do mineral waters act ? Doubtless through the
salts which they contain; but on this delicate subject there
prevails much uncertainty. The analysis of mineral water is
a difficult problem for the chemist to solve. He may find
a number of different chemical elements in the water ; but how
are these principles united among themselves ? It is this which
cannot be certainly known. We have, indeed, in our hands
the disjointed materials of the building ; but how are these
materials associated and grouped together? If we knew
the proximate composition, would we not find that there
existed between a medicinal water and the principles it
contains a relation which permits its properties to be de¬
duced beforehand ? It is not so, however, and observation
frequently differs from the deductions of theory. There
scarcely exists any constant connection between the chemi¬
cal analysis of a spring and its effects upon health. Mineral
waters act by feeble doses ; they are homoeopathic remedies.
FIG. 40.— PLOMBIERES.
MINERAL WATERS.
T95
the action of which escapes the most careful enquiry.
Their composition is, moreover, not yet very well under¬
stood, because they generally contain traces of organic sub¬
stances which chemists have not been able to study. A
mineral spring contains, perhaps, a proportion of one part of
iron to twenty thousand parts of water, and yet acts with
FIG. 49. — BATH ROOM AT VICHY.
more efficacy than all artificial medicines. Frequently when
physicians find medicines fail, they see unexpected effects
produced by mineral waters.
There is in rich springs something more than the minera,
held in solution, there is organic matter often in considerable
N 2
196
WONDERS OF WATER.
quantity. This has been usually ignored, but we believe
very erroneously, as the therapeutic efficacy may, perhaps,
be due to the presence of this ingredient. “A mineral
water,” as Dr. Constantine James has well observed, “is not
an ordinary saline solution ; it is a special drink which has
its own element, its special flavour, which nature has fabri¬
cated by its own chemistry, of which she has hitherto pre¬
served the secret.”
There are four different classes of mineral waters. 1.
Gaseous water, which contains carbonic water in solution.
These waters may also contain some salts of lime and mag¬
nesia, and a little iron. Such waters are found in Seitz,
Ems, and Wiesbaden. 2. Saline waters, such as those of
Plombières and Vichy. 3. Iron waters, such as those of
Spa. 4. Sulphur waters.
In the country of the Mormons there exists a remarkable
sulphur spring, so warm that it is always boiling, and
throws into the air clouds of smoke. The celebrated water
of Bareges contains only a small quantity of sulphate ot
sodium ; this water is useful as a remedy for sprains, in¬
completely healed sores, and stiffenings of the joints. It is
reputed to be of sovereign efficacy in the treatment of old
wounds.
The renown of the water of Bareges is due to Madame
de Maintenon, who brought the Duc de Maine thither in
1675. The young prince was of a delicate constitution,
and the sulphur wraters renewed his health. It was the
celebrated physician Fagon who discovered the baths of
Bareges, which up to that time had only been frequented by
a few peasants.
MINERAL WATERS.
197
Treatment.
“ When you arrive at the waters,” says Alibert, “ act as
you would do if you were entering the temple of Esculapius,
and leave behind you at the door all the passions which
have been troubling your mind and agitating you. Once
there abstain from imprudence, and do not exceed the pre¬
scribed doses, as so many invalids have done at all times,
since the days in which Pliny wrote. Many sick people
take a pride in having remained for hours together in very
hot baths, or drinking unmeasured quantities of mineral
water, which are both equally dangerous. Lead a quiet, calm,
tranquil life, bathe and drink with moderation, and the
water will gradually exercise its beneficial influence upon you,
your sufferings will insensibly pass away by the precious
liquid, and your frame will become invigorated.”
Formerly invalids sent by their medical attendants to the
waters, were made to' undergo a severe preliminary treatment.
The illustrious Boileau gives an account of this in a letter writ¬
ten to Racine. “ I have been purged and bled,” writes the
author of “ L‘Art Poétique,” “and nothing more remains
for me to undergo of the formalities considered necessary
before taking the waters. The medicines which I have taken
to-day have, as they tell me, done me all the good in the
world, for they have caused me to fall down four or five
times from weakness, and have thrown me into a state in
which I can hardly stand upright. To-morrow I am to begin
the great work. I mean to say that to-morrow I am to begin
taking the waters.”
Happily our physicians no longer resemble the contempo¬
raries of Boileau, the class which Molière describes; and the
cures due to mineral waters are more frequent and complete.
iç)8
WONDERS OF WATER.
Let us be grateful to the admirable natural medicines
which are able to procure us that greatest of all blessings,
health. “ A most precious possession,” says Montaigne,
“ and the only one which deserves all that is expended upon
it, not only of time, wealth, and fatigue, but also life itself
if it be necessary to sacrifice life in its pursuit ; for without
health life is painful and distressing ; without health pleasure,
wisdom, science, and virtue would languish, and at length
perish.”
CHAPTER V.
BATHS.
'""[“''HE celebrated Medea, who in the time of the Argo-
X nauts astonished all Greece by the prodigies which
the art of magic enabled her to accomplish, owed a part of
her success to the power she claimed of making the old
young. According to Piléphates and other ancient authors,
she attained these marvellous results by the use of baths of
mineral waters, of which Hie understood the properties.
From the days of Homer, who represents his heroes as
bathing in vast fishponds, to those of the contemporaries of
the fall of the Roman Empire, when all the appliances of
an unbridled luxury might be found in the thermæ , the
use of baths has played an important part among the
customs of antiquity. The reader will doubtless remember
the piscina of the Spartans, and the baths of Athens, of
which Lucian has given so complete a description. Much
also has been written concerning the baths and thermæ of
the Romans, Latin writers making frequent allusions to
them, and well-preserved vestiges of thermæ are still existing
at Pompeii. Seneca and Lucian still awaken our astonish-
200
WONDERS OF WATER.
ment by the descriptions they give of the refinements of!
luxury which were to be found in these public establish¬
ments. None of the entrances were direct, the bathers
being thus screened from contact with the air, and such
other inconveniences as the proximity to the open street
might bring. Two doors conducted you to the atrium, sur¬
rounded with graceful coloured porticoes, in which the
numerous bathers could comfortably await their turn for
entering the bath. From the atrium you went into the hall,
called the spoiiatarium or apodyterium, in which the slaves,
casparii , disrobed the bathers, and kept watch over their
clothes and valuables. An adjoining apartment, the unctu-
arium, was devoted to perfuming the body by means of
oils and aromatic essences.
We should never have finished our description if we were
to enumerate all the arrangements which an immoderate
love of luxury and comfort had suggested in these baths, if.
we had to elaborate every detail in connection with the
frigidarium, or chamber of cold baths ; the baptisterium , a
piscina of white marble, furnished with rows of seats on
which the bathers sat ; the tepidarium , a heated apartment
kept at a gentle temperature ; the heat-conducting pipes
arranged beneath the pavement ; the labrum , a sort of
marble vase which contained water to wash the hands and
face of the bather who had been perspiring in the vapour-
bath.
“A complete bath,” says Galen, “is composed of four
parts each different in its effects. When you enter the
thermæ you are subjected to the influence of hot air, you
are then wetted with warm water ; after that you plunge into
cold water, and last of all you are dried and rubbed.” The
routine which Galen indicates must frequently have been
BATHS.
2 01
changed by the caprices of fashion, and it is now impossible
to describe exactly the various processes of shampooing and
anointing, which were multiplied at pleasure by the effeminate
descendants of the Romans of the republic. Publius Victor,
m the fourth century, counted in Rome no less than nine hun¬
dred bath establishments ; and the number was still on the
increase, when the advancing progress of Christianity came
in to stop a practice which had passed from the domain of
hygiene to voluptuous self-indulgence. In spite, however, of
the opinion of Agathinius, the pupil of Athenæus, who saw
in the use of warm baths a thousand evils and dangers,
the use of baths had followed the development of Roman
society, and could only perish with it.
Doomed for generations to lie under complete and general
disrepute, the use of the bath revived in the age of Charle¬
magne. Popular tradition shows us the Emperor of the
West bathing with his whole court in the piscina of Aix-la-
Chapelle. If we are to believe the legend, it is to a hunting-
dog that we owe the use of mineral waters. The intelligent
animal having escaped from the royal pack of hounds to
bathe in a distant spring, returned dripping with a liquid
smelling strongly of sulphur. The dog thus suggested the
use of a fountain which had never before been employed.
But it is not alone either in ancient or in modern Europe
that the use of the bath may be found. The oriental
nations, the Indians, savages of all countries, frequently
made use of baths. During the sanguinary wars which the
Moors maintained against the Christians, the Moors were
accustomed to plunge into any stream they might meet with,
and are said to have derived signal benefits from the
practice.
Averrhoës recommends vapour baths, and expresses his
20 2
WONDERS OF WATER.
opinion strongly on the value of their medical use. Ali-
bert gives us the translation of a passage taken from the
“Medical Observations” of the ancient Emperor Kang-Hi,
a passage which leads to the supposition that the qualities of
mineral waters must have been long understood in China.
“ Nothing is truer,” says the royal author, “ than that thermal
waters are efficacious in the treatment of various diseases.”
In 1691 this emperor undertook a long journey for the pur¬
pose of visiting and spending several months in a district
situated to the north of Pekin, and celebrated for its bene¬
ficial baths of natural waters.
The Esquimaux, the Fins, the Greenlanders, the Nor¬
wegians, make use of vapour baths, constructed, it is true,
upon a plan the most simple. A hole scooped in the earth,
some pebbles made red-hot at the fire, form the bath and
the stove. The bathers enter the hole, and the steam
which is caused by the moisture of the soil when warmed by
the hot pebbles constitutes the vapour bath. The missionary
Loskiel describes analogous practices among the North
American Indians.
In our own day every nation has a different method of
taking the bath. The Russian practice is, after a very hot
vapour bath to plunge into a shower bath of cold water.
In the east both hot and cold baths are alternated ; but in
all countries, simple immersion and the douche bath are
most frequently in use.
Besides the local action of baths, besides the absorption
of considerable portions of water by the human body, we are
compelled to admit that baths act medicinally by the sub¬
stances which they contain. Those waters which hold in
solution a perceptible quantity of organic matter, produce
upon the skin a soft and unctuous sensation, which refreshes
BATHS.
203
and invigorates the frame. Sulphur waters containing
soda act as excitants, and produce a beneficial effect
upon the surface of the skin. Warm baths impart to the
bather a feeling of strength, and at the same time of comfort ;
while fresh water, and still more sea water baths, can only
be used by constitutions capable of resisting their depressing
influence. But is there not much in the ordinary use of
baths with which fault may be found? If the Romans
abused the bath, may it not be said of us moderns that we do
not make sufficient use of it ? Where are the magnificent
thermæ, the piscinae, full of bathers at every hour of the day?
They have been replaced by a narrow cell in a miserable
bath house. The perfumes and aromatic oils have disap¬
peared, and there is now to be found in a bath house
neither a couch to rest on nor appliances for shampooing.
Where are those halls so spacious and so well warmed
and ventilated, where the bather could dry himself gradually
before encountering the external air ? In all baths of the
present day the bather is exposed to a sudden, and conse¬
quently dangerous, transition from the heat ot the water to
the cold of the external air.
Fresh and Sea Water Baths.
All medical authorities are agreed in recommending the
use of cold baths, and the inhabitants of Paris have always
been accustomed to bathe in the cool waters of their river
during the heats of summer. In the country, when the sun
is darting his burning rays upon the earth, the bather finds a
delicious coolness in the waters of the river, where, allowing
himself to be cradled by the waves, and following a track
shaded by tufted willows, he swims along the health-giving
current, his pores eagerly absorbing the liquid.
204
WONDERS OF WATER.
The first plunge in the sea is usually unpleasant, but the
comfort soon experienced causes the disagreeable sensation
to be forgotten. Swimming is so easy, and the expenditure
of muscular force so inappreciable, that the bather is tempted
to prolong so pleasant an exercise. Its duration, however,
has to be carefully regulated, for the circulation slackened,
or even partially suspended, does not soon recover its
normal condition if the bath has lasted long. When we
leave the water a reaction takes place ; the skin resumes its
former colour, the blood circulates freely, and the beating of
the heart becomes more vigorous.
To use the language of Galen, uttered more than a thousand
years ago, “ Experience itself can be our only guide as to>
how long it is advisable to remain in the water. If, when
we come out of our bath, the skin soon returns, by rubbing,
to its natural healthy colour, we have remained in the water
a proper time , but if it takes a long time for our skin to
become warm again and to regain its colour, we see a sure
indication that our bath has been too prolonged.”
Sea water is a true mineral water. Marvellously rich in
saline principles, it is a vital spring from whence the feeble
may draw strength, and sufferers from every species of
ailment may draw health. In its bosom lie hidden many
remedies, many most valuable medicines. “We should,”
says Russel, “ both drink sea water and bathe in it.” In the
sea we find carbonate of lime, which can give strength to our
weakened bodies ; iodine, which purifies our blood.
“Whatever principles,” says Michelet, “exist in you,
the sea, that grand impersonal personality, possesses in
herself; she has in her your bones, your blood, your vital
warmth. But she possesses what you have not, the excess,
the overplus of force. Her breath imparts a mysterious
BIARRITZ.
BATHS.
207
something of gaiety, of activity, of creative energy, which one
may term a physical heroism . With all her violence, the great
ocean is none the less prodigal of that joy, that lively and
quickening alacrity, that, wild and burning love, which ani¬
mates herself.
The Water-cure.
There exists in Germany a celebrated school of medicine
which affects to cure all diseases by the mere use of water.
Cold water for the healing of wounds, thermal and mineral
waters, ice and snow waters, are all utilised ; these, we are
told, are the only weapons which physicians should make
use of for combating the evils to which flesh is heir. Water
is thus transformed into a universal panacea. It is no
doubt the disciples of this school who have ascribed a Ger¬
man origin to the water-cure, a most important branch of
the healing art, which has, however, nothing really new about
it but the name.
Has not Seneca shown us the effect of cold water in re¬
storing the sick person from syncope ? Does not Horace
show us Patroclus washing the wound of Eripyles with cold
water ? Have we forgotten Hecuba’s cries for water to wash
the wounds of Polyxene ? Do not these facts prove that
the ancients employed water as a healing agent ? Douche-
baths were certainly known to them, and it was at Rome, in
the reign of Augustus, that hydropathic practice had its birth,
under the happy inspiration of a freedman — Antonius Musa.
This physician prescribed water as a drink, in baths, and
in douches ; and he found in this remedy, simple as it was,
the secret of a new system of therapeutics. Augustus had
only lately been elected Consul for the eleventh time when
he fell ill with a dangerous sickness. Feeling his end ap-
2 o8
WONDERS OF WATER.
proaching, he assembled the magistrates, the senators, and
the principal knights, and then, having conferred with them
on the affairs of the republic, he placed the seal of the em¬
pire into the hands of Agrippa. It was then that Antonius
Musa undertook to cure him by a new method, and suc¬
ceeded by means of cold water applied both internally and
externally. Augustus, full of gratitude, bestowed on Musa
a large sum of money and a gold ring, and had a statue
raised to him and placed beside that of Esculapius ; also
conceding to him, and to whoever then exercised and here¬
after should exercise the same profession, nobility and the
exemption from payment of taxes (See Dion Cassius, quoted
in Dr. C. James’s “ Guide to Mineral Waters”). Musa was
not long in acquiring a universal reputation. “ Ah Musa !”
cried Virgil, “ no one may flatter himself that he will ever
surpass thee in science.” Hydropathy was already super¬
seding every other branch of therapeutics. Horace himself
had recourse to this famous physician, and the graceful poet,
after having sung the praises of Falernian, sought the virtues
of cold water. Horace set out for Velia, where Musa pre¬
scribed for him a hydropathic treatment, and afterwards took
sulphur-baths at Baii.
Fortune was not always prodigal of her favours to the
celebrated Musa. Being called in to attend the young Mar-
cellus, whose life was in danger, he determined on having
recourse to his favourite system ; he recommended cold
water, and Marcellus sunk. This event was a terrible blow
both to hydropathy and to its inventor. The cold-water-
cure was universally discredited. A century later, Charmis,
under Nero, recommenced the system of Musa. It again
met with the same success and awakened the same enthu¬
siasm ; cold baths again grew the fashion, and were taken at
BATHS.
209
all hours of the day. Nero was in the habit of adding snow
to the water of these baths.
Charmis, says Dr. James, like Musa, prescribed cold water
internally as well as externally, and that in large doses. It was
needful, according to Pliny, to drink before you sat down to
table, during the repast, and again before going to sleep. It
was even necessary sometimes to be awakened in order to
drink again — ct si libeat somnos interrumfiere. The tempera¬
ture of the water could never be too low. The impulse given
by Charmis was continued long after his death. Celsus, who
survived him, and the successors of Celsus, frequently pre¬
scribed cold water, and we may see in their writings the
successful applications which they made of it in the treat-
• ment of the sick. Little by little warm baths superseded
cold ones ; so much so that in our own day the latter had
become entirely abandoned, when suddenly their use re¬
ceived a new impulse from Priessnitz, from whom the dawn
of modern hydropathy may be dated.
In 1816 a peasant of Silesia, named Priessnitz, was re¬
turning home from the fields, when a horse, which had run
away and was rearing, struck Priessnitz in the face, and broke
one of his ribs. There being no doctor in the little village
of Freiwaldau, Priessnitz determined upon doctoring him¬
self. He caused his broken ribs to resume their proper
position by constantly leaning his chest against the corner
of a chair. Instead of bandages, he made use of a wet
rag, he drank freely of cold water, and was soon able to
return to his work.
This cure made a great sensation, and Priessnitz was ere
long consulted on all cases of sickness. He applied far and
wide his cold-water system, and being of an observing turn
of mind he tried to supply by observation what he lacked of
o
210
WONDERS OF WATER.
scientific knowledge. He travelled from village to village,
treating all who applied to him for help, and acquiring a
name which gradually became famous. Some years after,
Priessnitz had founded a vast establishment, to which flocked
a crowd of invalids from all parts of the world, seeking from
empirical art that healing which medicine was unable to
bestow on them.
Hydropathy was very tardily received at Paris, and a
steady opposition to it was maintained for a long time. But
little by little our citizens grew accustomed to the new treat¬
ment, and cold baths, cold water douches, and applications
of ice are employed by most of our doctors.
In what consisted the method of Priessnitz ? Cold water
drunk freely, wet wraps, cold baths, rubbings with a damp
cloth, cold shower-baths, cold plunging baths, cold foot
baths — such were the only prescriptions of the old Silesian
peasant. These methods are excellent in certain cases, and
hydropathy is without doubt one of the important branches
of the healing art. But this new method has been injured
by its too zealous advocates, who have absurdly over-praised
it and decried all other systems.
Artificial Mineral Waters.
The idea of replacing mineral waters by similar waters
artificially produced is very ancient, and several of Galen’s
contemporaries endeavoured to prepare beverages which
should rival the most vaunted springs. But in the opinion
of Herodotus no beverage of this description equalled the
water from which it borrowed the name, and numerous
attempts have proved that Herodotus was not far wrong.
Many kinds of mineral water, of incontestable efficacy, have
O 2
FIG. 51.— SELTZER WATER APPARATUS#
BATHS.
213
indeed been manufactured, but there is little affinity between
them and those which nature has produced in the bosom of
the globe. The Sedlitz water of chemists is merely suffered
by courtesy to have any analogy with that of the German
spring, and the ordinary Seltzer water drunk at meals does
not really resemble in the least that which is supplied by the
•celebrated fountain in the duchy of Nassau. It is, however,
a very wholesome and refreshing beverage, so universally
held in repute that it will be well to describe its preparation.
Seltzer water is simply common water charged with car¬
bonic acid by high pressure, and is prepared on a large scale
by means of the apparatus which we have represented in
Fig. 51. The carbonic acid gas, which is produced in a
metal cylinder by the action of sulphuric acid upon carbonate
of lime, chalk, marble, etc., traverses three purifying vessels,
and then is received into a gas-holder. A pump compresses
the gas into a spherical receiver, furnished with a pressure-
gauge, and a leaden tube conveys the gas into the bottle
under a pressure of ten or twelve atmospheres.
CHAPTER VL
PUBLIC HEALTH.
Drinking II 'a ter.
HE traveller who explores, at the cost of fatigue and
JL hardship, those remote countries which are entirely
deficient in water ; the explorer who, lost in the burning
sands of the desert, lacks even the drop of water which
might cool his burning thirst, know well how to appreciate
the blessings of this precious liquid. If you read the travels
of Varnbery in Central Asia, you will see what suffering
want of water caused to this enterprising traveller. You
will see how a generous man was rendered so selfish by
suffering as to refuse to those whom he saw dying before his
eyes a few drops of stagnant water. Under ordinary circum¬
stances each man absorbs three and a half pints of water a
day. A lesser quantity would cause real physical suffering.
It may be imagined, therefore, what a great influence the
salts, which water holds in solution, even in small quantities,,
must exercise over the animal economy. It is necessary that
the water be wholesome and of good quality. Opinion, in
every age, has attributed to the action of bad water certain
endemic diseases, and though such opinions may have been
PUBLIC HEALTH.
2I5
exaggerated, it is none the less true that some waters are highly
deleterious. It is easy to understand, on the same principle,,
how waters containing salts favourable to the animal economy,
and holding in solution gaseous products calculated to-
facilitate digestion, become, through daily use, the surest,,
most precious, and most valuable agents of health.
Fresh waters may be divided into rain water, spring water,
the water of rivers, that of lakes, that of ponds, and that
of wells.
Rain water, at the time when collected, is not absolutely
pure,, but is the purest to be found in nature. It has, how¬
ever, the defect of not holding any calcareous matter in
solution. It is insipid and of a sickly sweet taste. The
water of ponds and pools rich in decomposing organic
matter has an odour so disagreeable as to banish it from
the table. Springs, lakes, rivers, wells, are the sources
of the water we drink ; but the ingredients of the water they
contain are so different that it will be well to give a little
time to the study of them, so as to find out to which pre¬
ference ought to be given. Water may be considered good
and wholesome when it is fresh, limpid, inodorous, not
inclined to become turbid when boiled, when it leaves but
little sediment by evaporating, when its taste is sweet and
pleasant without being either salt or insipid, when it holds
air in solution, when it dissolves soap easily, and when it
boils vegetables well. The water of tanks employed in
countries which are deficient in springs and rivers, does not
answer these requirements, for the rain which trickles down
from the roofs of houses carries along with it organic and
mineral substances.
Except in rare cases, water which holds in solution a
perceptible proportion of organic matter becomes soon
WONDERS OF WATER.
2l6
putrid, and acquires qualities which are deleterious. Diar¬
rhoea, dysentery, and other maladies are induced by the use
of water holding decomposed organic substances either in
solution or suspension. It is consequently admitted as a
fact ascertained by close observation, that the less the water
we drink contains of organic matter the more wholesome it
will be. In certain towns, especially Cadiz, where each
house possesses a cistern, care is taken to run to waste the
first rain which falls from the sky, and when by means of this
purification the impurities of the air, of roofs, and of spouts
have been carried off, the rain which the clouds continue to
pour upon the city is carefully collected.
Some well-water (the wells of Paris give a striking illus¬
tration), having traversed various strata of the earth’s sur¬
face, contains large quantities of sulphate of lime ; such
water will not dissolve soap, nor cook vegetables, and is un¬
wholesome. Water of this kind is detected by the abundant
precipitate which it forms when a solution of oxalate of
ammonia and chloride of barium is added.
The presence of carbonate of lime is necessary in good
drinking water, and the experiments of M. Boussingault
have proved that this substance helps in the development of
our bones. But excess is always hurtful, and the so-called
calcareous waters, containing, as they do, too large a quantity
of lime, are unfit for drink. Water of this description
becomes turbid when boiled, and leaves behind it by evapor¬
ation an abundant deposit, which produces incrustations in
conduit-pipes and steam-boilers.
When water charged with carbonic acid traverses leaden
pipes it becomes impregnated with the lead, and when
swallowed produces diarrhoea of a serious character, and
often fatal.
PUBLIC HEALTH.
21 7
The water of rivers, and of some wells, only holds in
solution a small quantity of chlorides, sulphates, or carbon¬
ates, with bases of lime, magnesia, soda, potash, and alu¬
mina ; it is then fit for drinking ; but among all descriptions
of waters, that of springs is incontestably the best. “ The
best waters,” as Hippocrates said with reason, “ are those
which are warm in winter and cool in summer ; ” and this
sentence from the father of medicine, confirmed in our own
days, is the opinion which ought to decide us in our selec¬
tion of a water to drink.
Nothing is preferable to limpid and cool spring waters
•drawn from pure sources, sheltered beneath the shade of
trees ; and if they have become aerated by their voyage
on the surface of the globe, if they have dissolved on the
route which they have traversed small quantities of carbon¬
ate of lime, they offer to the thirsty a wholesome, cool,
and agreeable liquid, which, contributing as it does to the
health of the body, is not without influence upon our moral
well-being.
Industrial and Domestic A ppli cations.
The consumption of water may be estimated, in towns like
Paris, at four gallons per diem for each inhabitant. This
refers to citizens who do not follow any branch of industry
which requires a large supply of water, such as that of a
dyer, or brewer, or keeper of public baths and wash-houses,
and who have neither domestic animals to be taken care of,
horses to be watered, a carriage to be cleaned, nor a garden
be attended to. If we include all classes the average
consumption is ten gallons per head per diem.
We give the following table from M. J. Dupuit, the civil
WONDERS OF WATER.
2lS
engineer, which will afford a general idea of the daily con¬
sumption of water in Paris.
For each person . . . . . .18 quarts.
Each horse . . . . . . . 65 ,,
Each two-wheeled vehicle . . . . 35 ,,
Each four-wheeled ditto . . . . 66 ,,
Each square yard of garden ground . . . 1 „
Every one-horse power of work produced by a
high-pressure engine . . . . . 1 ,,
Ditto by a condensing engine . . . . 9 ,,
Ditto by a low-pressure engine . . . . 18 ,,
Each bath ....... 264 ,,
Besides these domestic and industrial uses, water has to be
employed in moistening the road when the heat of the sum¬
mer transforms our streets and public walks into so many
sandy deserts ; in cleansing gutters and kennels to obviate
the dangers of stagnant water ; in sewerage, and in cooling
the air by means of fountains in open squares and pleasure-
gardens.
All these applications are imperiously demanded by public-
health ; but in such cases the quality of the water signifies
but little, whether it be impregnated with gypsum or lime¬
stone, whether it be tepid or cold, it will not less thoroughly
accomplish its useful mission.
Calcareous waters leave an abundant deposit, which in¬
crusts coppers and boilers, and forms a hard and resistant
coating ; a stone lining is thus formed upon the metal and
injures it. This lining impedes the heat from communicating
itself from the furnace to the liquid within. Sometimes the*
metal of the boiler becomes red-hot; if the calcareous deposit
then bursts, and the water comes into contact with the
metallic sides of the boiler, the liquid boils with great
violence, and the mass of steam which is instantaneously
PUBLIC HEALTH.
219
developed bursts the boiler, spreading death and destruction
around.
Water which contains nitrate of magnesia, or chloride of
magnesium, presents also serious disadvantages; these salts
decompose under the influence of heat ; they leave behind
nitric and hydrochloric acids, which corrode the metal, and
deteriorate rapidly both the boiler and all the metal pipes
which they traverse.
These inconveniences are sometimes remedied by purify¬
ing the water by chemical processes. In order to prevent
the incrustation of coppers, the waters are mingled with a
certain kind of clay ; a deposit is then made, which, instead
of forming a hard crust, merely leaves a precipitate that
can be easily removed.
CHAPTER VIL
THE WATER OF PARIS.
"'HE first inhabitants of Paris drew their water supply-
direct from the Seine. At a later period the
.Romans constructed the aqueduct of Arcueil, and the
vestiges of their labours are still to be seen in the Emperor
Julian’s Palace of the Baths. This aqueduct perished with
the Roman Empire, and it was not until the thirteenth
century that the monks caused water to be obtained from
the springs of Belleville and Près St. Gervais. The water
thus derived would be rejected at the present day; but from
it alone Paris quenched her thirst during more than four
centuries (from 1200 to 1608), until the time when the pump
“de la Samaritaine” was established on the Pont Neuf.
During the whole of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
period the sovereigns of France, never very solicitous for
the welfare of the people, granted large monopolies to the
nobles and the monasteries. The abuse became such that
many portions of Paris were on the point of being abandoned,
on account of the public fountains having dried up. Not¬
withstanding the famous edict of Charles VI. (October,
THE WATER OF PARIS.
2 2 E
1392); notwithstanding the noble initiative taken by a
provost of the merchants, who, in 1457, caused the aqueduct
of Belleville to be reconstructed, favoritism still continued
to triumph, and the people continued to lack water.
In 1553, Paris only received 392 cubic yards a day,
equivalent to less than one quart to each inhabitant. This
quantity would have scarcely sufficed a city a hundred
times less populous.
When the evil had become flagrant, when the murmurs,,
timid as they still were, of the inhabitants reached the ear
of government, when the dearth of water had become too
imminent, an ordinance of the police, delivered by the-
provost of the merchants, abolished the monopolies. This,
was simply an ordinance of bad faith, which led to further
monopolies and re-established things in a state more de¬
plorable than before. There was neither order nor proper-
regulations, but everywhere injustice and iniquity ; the great
lord turning, on his own authority, the conduits of the town,
before the eyes of the people, from their own humble
dwellings to his mansion, where he wanted a new fountain,
perhaps merely for ornament.
It was reserved for a great king to remedy the evil by
energetic measures. Henry IV. at length succeeded in get¬
ting his edicts obeyed. All the pipes which conveyed the-
water to abbey lands and the abodes of the rich he ruthlessly
cut, the minute revision of the titles of the monopolists was
executed with unusual care and impartiality, and the number
of monopolists was reduced to fourteen. For the first time
these monopolies were obtained by purchase, and Martin.
Langlois, provost of the merchants, was the first who paid to
the city a rent for the right of getting water from the fountain
of Barre-du-Bec.
WONDERS OF WATER.
It was not in a short time that this evil could be annihi¬
lated. In 1608 the want of water again made itself felt.
Henry IV. reduced the number of monopolies, and set a
noble example by permitting his own to be reduced ; the
Fountain de la Samaritaine was erected on the Pont Neuf ;
and the same year saw the inauguration of an admirable pro¬
ject, the reconstruction of the aqueduct of Arcueil. But
this work, arrested in its progress by the death of the king,
was not completed till much later, under Mary de Médicis.
All things considered, the reign of Henry IV. is a page in
the history of the Paris water-works which can be perused
with satisfaction. It was then for the first time hydraulic
pumps were made use of, for the first time also the mono¬
polies were sold, and these important improvements are to
the glory of the memory of a great king. Under Louis XIII.
and Louis XIV., however, the abuses reappeared with a new
and scandalous energy, and several unhealthy quarters of
the city were on the eve of being abandoned. All the foun¬
tains became dry, whilst the king was spending millions of
money, wrung from his people, in forming the water-works
at Versailles for the amusement of his court. In 1671
a new pump, that of Notre Dame, was constructed; but
notwithstanding this highly beneficial work, Paris still con¬
tinued to receive only 2,354 cubic yards of water daily, or
2‘6 quarts to each inhabitant.
At the commencement of the eighteenth century numerous
papers, published on the subject of the Paris water supply,
arrested public attention ; but a few unimportant enactments
were the sole results of the long and prolix discussions which
were carried on upon the subject. De Parcieux, somewhat
later, suggested a plan for supplying the capital from the waters
of the Yvette, a little river which runs into the Seine above
THE WATER OF PARIS.
223
Longjumeau ; this plan was eagerly discussed, and public
opinion then, as at the present day, hesitated between
various projects, some for obtaining water from a distance,
nnd others for endeavouring to raise water from the Seine by
means of engines. In 1769 the Chevalier d’Auxiron, having
suggested a new system of elevating the Seine waters by a
species of engine, replied to De Parcieux. The two adver¬
saries became involved in warm and eager discussions, and
while they were engaged in a mighty war of words the water
had to be waited for. In 1771 the system of obtaining water
from a distance, and carrying it into Paris by aqueducts,
found a principal supporter in the illustrious Lavoisier, who
lent to this project all the weight of his genius.
At length appeared two able men, both merchants, who
overcame those difficulties. The brothers Périer proposed
to the city to establish, at their own expense, a system of
machinery on the Seine consisting of a number of pumps,
by the aid of which water could be raised. The citizens of
Paris were about to see at work steam-engines which had
been constructed in the workshop of Watt, they were to drink
water elevated by the apparatus which was then exciting so
just an admiration. Public opinion was not slow in testify¬
ing to the favour which the Périer system had found. On
the 7th of February, 1777, the parliament authorised the
brothers Périer by letters patent to establish at their expense,
in localities indicated by the provost of tire merchants,
steam-engines which were to pour the waters of the Seine
into the capital. The new company was organised forth¬
with, but it began its operations with a deplorable mistake.
The first steam-pump was established at Chaillot, near the
discharge of the drains. Delays, unlooked-for obstacles,
unforeseen disappointments, put a stop for some time to the
224
WONDERS OF WATER.
■work, and the capital of the company was completely ex¬
hausted. Finally the advent of Law, the creation of his
system, and the commencement of stock-jobbing, turned the
heads of the money-making public, and caused the water
speculation, like so many others, to collapse.
The company certainly gave water in 1782, but the pro¬
mises it made were so badly kept, its engagements were so
little respected, that government became compelled to inter¬
fere, and the undertaking was put a stop to altogether. A
lawsuit, indeed, was carried on for some time on the sub¬
ject. Beaumarchais defended the company, and Mirabeau
opposed it. The author of “ Mariage de Figaro” proved
incapable of parrying the blows of the famous orator,
and his accustomed genius deserted him. Truth appeared
cold in the public eye, and the sonorous, clear, precise lan¬
guage of the Comte du Mirabeau crushed the Water Supply
Company to atoms, and threw it into the most complete
disrepute.
The eighteenth century produced, however, in this as in
other respects, some progress. At the period when the French
Revolution broke out, Paris received 10,445 cubic yards of
water a day. The city then numbered 547,755 inhabitants,
and the distribution was consequently three gallons per head
in 24 hours. This volume of water would be only enough
for one-seventh of the population, and consequently the
progress in the eighteenth century is not of much interest ;
but an age which listened to Voltaire and Rousseau had but
little time to bestow upon problems of this description.
During a long series of years, terrible political convul¬
sions diverted the minds of men from questions purely ad¬
ministrative. The capital was taken out of the country, and
financial speculations on the subject of Paris water were
THE WATER OF PARIS.
225
arrested. We must make a leap to the year 1797 before we
come to any project so enterprising or so beneficent as that
of the construction of the canal of Ourcq. After numerous
debates and protracted discussions, and after having passed
through the most unlooked-for phases, this project appeared
likely to become actually carried out under the auspices of
the first Napoleon. The Legislative Assembly passed a decree
in which it was ordained that a canal of derivation should be
opened from the river Ourcq, and that this river should be
conveyed to Paris into a basin near La Villette. The first
works were commenced in 1801, and on the 15th of Sep¬
tember of the following year M. Girard took the direction of
them. Carried on with activity till 1812, suspended by our
internal disasters, and again recommenced at a much more
recent period, these works were completed in 1837. After
the completion of the canal of the Ourcq, after the establish¬
ment of eighteen steam-engines which draw water from the
-Seine, and the boring of the Artesian wells of Grenelle and
Passy, the city of Paris received 255,000 cubic yards of
water a day. This supply is contributed in the following
proportions : —
Cubic yards.
Water from the Ourcq . 137,000
Water from the Seine ...... 105,000
Water from the Artesian wells .... 13,000
Total . . . 255,000
This gives a mean of 25 gallons to each inhabitant in
24 hours, a quantity inferior to that which is received by
•certain other great towns, as may be seen by the following
-table : —
P
?2Ô
WONDERS OF WATER.
Modem Rome
•
•
•
•
Gallons to each
inhabitant
each 24 hours.
. 208
New York .
•
•
•
•
. 125
Marseilles
•
•
•
•
. 41
Genoa .
•
•
•
•
. 26
Glasgow
•
•
•
•
. 22
London .
•
•
•
•
. 21
Geneva .
•
•
•
•
. l6
Philadelphia .
•
•
•
•
• 15
Edinburgh
•
•
•
•
. 11
Paris is, as will thus be seen, far from having a place in
the foremost rank of towns well supplied with water. It is
excelled in this respect by several ; there is also room for
improvement, not only in the quantity of our water, but in
its quality.
The Water of Paris.
The following table gives an analysis of the chemical com¬
position of the water which is drunk in Paris : —
From the Seine
at Chaillot.
From Arcueil.
From Belle¬
ville.
'
From Saint
Gervais
From the Wells
of Grenelle.
Fi-om the Canal
of the Ourcq.
gr.
gr.
gr.
gr-
gr.
j Bi-carbonate of lime
0*230
0*158
f Sr"
0*032
0*029
0*158
Do. of magnesia .
0*076
0*060
O 400
0*012
0*009
0*075
Do. of potash .
99
9 9
9 9
9 9
0*010
99
(Sulphate of lime .
0*040
0*138
1*100
0*430
9 9
o*oSo
Do. of magnesia .
0*030
0*072
0*520
0*100
0*032
0*095
Chloride of calcium, so¬
dium, &c .
0*032
o*oSi
0*400
o*6oo
0*057
0*113
Silex, oxide of iron, alumina
0*024
o*oiS
0*100
0*020
0*1 12
0*109
(Organic matter ....
Traces
9 9
99
99
9 9
99
Salts contained in 1000 parts
0*432
0*527
2*520
1*194
0*149
0*590
THE WATER OF PARIS. 227
From this analysis, drawn up by MM. Boutron and
Boudet, we gather that the wells of Grenelle are preferable
to any of the others. The waters of Belleville are hard and
disagreeable to drink ; while those of Arcueil are soft
and of good quality.
The water from the Seine and the Ourcq, contaminated
by impurities, have become unfit for human consumption.
These rivers constitute the principal beverage of the inha¬
bitants of our city. The Seine is the common drain
into which the two millions of people who dwell upon its
banks pour all their sewage. This water it is which the
pumps of Chaillot and St. Ouen daily distribute to a large
proportion of the inhabitants of Paris.
After the great drought of 1858, 58 cubic yards of water
passed every second under the arches of the Pont Royal ; and
as the drains poured 1 *3 cubic yards of water every second,
it follows that the inhabitants drank at that period one
pint of drain-water to each forty-four pints of Seine-water.
The water of the Seine stored in the reservoirs of Paris
leaves much to be desired, as the observations of Dr.
Bouchut and M. Coste have proved. The former tells us
that the water of the reservoir Racine contains at a depth of
13 feet “myriads of yellowish particles, which give it the
appearance of a thick emulsion.” “ The water of the reservoir
of the Pantheon,” says the same writer, “holds in suspen¬
sion innumerable living creatures, which can be taken up by
spoonfuls. In the Popin court reservoir, also, the water of
which is subject to the effects of light and heat, there is an
immense quantity of impurity.”
The water of the Seine, which is drunk by the inhabitants,
is thus impure, filthy, and infected by the disgusting con¬
tents of the drains ; it is full of organic matter of all sorts,
228
WONDERS OF WATER.
and infusoriæ swarm in the reservoirs. Visitors to Paris
frequently find themselves much affected by the water of the
Seine, and some medical authorities consider that the use of
this water is the cause of numerous diseases, especially
fevers of a typhoid character, which often attack new-comers
to the metropolis.
Besides this defect in quality, there is the deficiency in
quantity, to which we before made allusion. During the
summer the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes
absorb 46,000 cubic yards of water a day. The water-
posts sprinkle 118,000 cubic yards upon the high-roads; the
squares consume 33,000, and the streets and boulevards
require for watering 105,000 cubic yards. There remains to
each person’s share a few quarts of dirty unwholesome
water; whereas, proper sanitary arrangements require 13
gallons of a pure and fresh liquid for each inhabitant of a
large town.
Notwithstanding the immense quantity of water thrown
on the public streets, the dust in Paris often rises in thick
clouds ; the lakes in the Bois de Boulogne by no means
overflow with water ; and the Parisian, wiping his forehead
and melting under a burning sun, feels that he has no alter¬
native but to quench his thirst from a species of decoction
of the water of the sewer mingled with that of his river.
The Re7nedy.
Since the year 1864 — the period when Paris first began to
undergo the wonderful transformation which is now taking
place, when stately boulevards were raised on the site ot
squalid hovels, and squares were distributed over the new
capital — the municipal authorities found that they must deal
T PIE WATER OF PARIS. 229
with this problem of the water, and have resolved to attack
with energy the evils so long existing.
But how are the evils we have been describing to be met
To filter and to purify the water of the Seine would be imprac¬
ticable, and this expensive mode of distribution would merely
furnish the Parisians with a beverage of but doubtful quality.
A thousand projects have been suggested. One set of projec¬
tors wished to have Artesian wells m every quarter of the city,
but the water of an Artesian well is tepid and not aerated ;
and besides, does not every one know that the well of Passy
has diminished the quantity of water in that of Grenelle ?
Would it be wise to dig twenty or thirty wells of the same
description, and thereby diminish, and perhaps exhaust, the
subterranean body of water which supplies the capital?
Have we never heard of gushing fountains and springs which
suddenly have become dry ? Might it not some day be the
same with these reservoirs which lie beneath our feet ?
Others proposed to bring the Loire into the middle of Paris,
but why abandon one river to adopt another ? Those dwell¬
ing on the banks of that stream, wrhose generous waters have
been so immortalised by La Fontaine, would they not view
with a very legitimate displeasure the removal of their river ?
It would not be any satisfaction to them to see the thirst of
the Parisians quenched at their expense.
If we are to seek water from a distance, would it not be
better to seek the purest, the freshest, and the most limpid
which can be found ? Many centuries ago the Romans
understood the art of obtaining and distributing good water ;
they spared no pains in trying to obtain a fresh and whole¬
some beverage. At Rome itself they despised the Tiber,
which flowed at their feet ; the water of this river appeared
unworthy to be drunk by the masters of the world, and they
230
WONDERS OF WATER.
brought into the Eternal City the water of distant springs, by
means of those gigantic aqueducts, the very ruins of which
are sufficient for the supply of modern Rome. At Lyons
they despised the Rhone and the Saône, and introduced the
crystal waters of remote springs by long aqueducts. Lastly,
here in Paris, the Emperor Julian, in his palace of the
Thermæ, situated on the banks of the Seine, would only
bathe in the waters of Arcueil.
Animals, who have not our intelligence, but who possess
a marvellous instinct, invariably prefer spring water. If you
offer a thirsty horse the choice between two pails of water,
one containing water rich in sulphate of lime, and the other
containing pure spring water, the animal will be certain
to choose the second ; and if no choice be allowed him, he
will drink the first with manifest repugnance.
It has, therefore, been determined to imitate the Romans,
and to spread over Paris spring water brought by one or
more aqueducts. In April 1854 the prefect of the Seine
commissioned Belgrand, chief engineer of the navigation of
the Seine, to study minutely all the springs which could
be made use of in increasing the water-supply of Paris, and
which were situated at such an altitude that the incline of
the ground could conduct them naturally to the hill of Belle¬
ville. The difficulties were great, but M. Belgrand’s ability
was sufficient to cope successfully with them. He thought
with reason that all water coming from the same class of
rocks would present the same composition, and that the
substances held by it in solution must, when submitted to
chemical analysis, give the same results. All the water, for
instance, of the chalk soil of Champagne is sensibly of the
same nature. The analysis of several well-selected springs
could then represent the average composition of all the
THE WATER OF PARIS.
0-7 T
o 1
different waters to be met with throughout the whole extent
of a formation.
M. Belgrand made consequently the analysis of 229
springs, measuring their temperature day by day, in winter
as well as in summer, acquainting himself with the total
amount of water given out by each, &c. He arrived at
the conclusion that the water of Morvan was of excellent
quality, but that its distance from Paris was too consider¬
able ; that the water of La Beauce presented the charac¬
teristics of a wholesome and pure beverage, but that its
employment in large manufactories was so essential that we
were not justified in diverting it for the use of the metro¬
polis ; finally, that the water of Champagne, situated between
Chalons and Château Thierry and between Sens and Troyes,
answered completely to all our requirements.
In the month of April, 1S59, the city of Paris purchased,
for the sum of about 65,000 francs, the source of the Dhuis,
which flows near Chateau Thierry, and is capable of furnish¬
ing 52,000 cubic yards of water a day. The city afterwards
purchased, for the sum of 12,000 francs, the springs of
Montmort, in order to unite them to the waters of the Dhuis
in the aqueduct, by which it was intended that the higher
•quarters of the city should be supplied. The other aqueduct,
which was to be constructed for the use of the lower quarters,
was to be fed from various springs in the valley of the Vanne,
■a little river which flows between Troyes and Sens, and which
gives every day a volume of water equal to 88,000 cubic
yards. In i860 these springs were purchased for a sum of
265,000 francs. The city of Paris is, then, the proprietor of
157,000 cubic yards per diem, that is to say —
232 WONDERS OF WATER.
Cubic
Yards.
♦ 39,000-
. 4,000
. 88,000
. 26,000
157,000
Besides these two aqueducts, which can thus furnish 14
gallons of spring water a day to each inhabitant of Paris, the
Government proposes to erect a third, that of Somme-Soude,,
which would be able to bring into Paris a stream of 78,000
cubic yards a day.
At the point of departure of the Dhuis water an artificial
waterfall is produced, by which the liquid, having fallen in
drops, is freed from its excess of carbonate of lime ; for a
distance of 1,200 yards a double aqueduct has been erected,
so that the circulation of the water may not be stopped
when it is necessary to remove incrustations. The aqueduct
extends over the hills which border the left side of the-
Marne as far as Chalifort, crosses that river, and keeps along
its right bank as far as Belleville, after a journey of 87 miles..
In order that the water may preserve its temperature, this
aqueduct is formed of galleries of masonry united at the pas¬
sage of the valleys by large cast-iron pipes, sunk one yard
below the soil. Several months ago the work was so far
completed as to bring the Dhuis to the hill of Menilmontant,
at a height of 1 1 8 yards, and its waters are brought into
Paris after having been collected in reservoirs, which contain
not less than 22,000,000 gallons of water. These gigantic
cisterns are covered in, and this envelope keeps the water
at the temperature of the springs from which it proceeds,
by protection from the solar rays, thus rendering the
Water supplied by the Aque- ) Dhuis ....
duct of the Dhuis . . i Springs of Montmort
Water supplied by the Aque- ) Springs of Noé Theil, &c.
duct of the Vanne . i Springs of Annentières .
THE WATER OF PARIS.
233
development of organic life to any injurious extent totally
impossible.
One of these reservoirs being already completed, the other
will soon, it is hoped, be successfully finished ; and it is im¬
possible to avoid admiring the beautiful azure hue of the
water, and enjoying the touch of its fresh coolness when the
hand is plunged in it. We fancy, while gazing into the
liquid depths of the transparent waters of the reservoir,
that we must be on the banks of one of the beautiful Swiss
lakes.
It will not be long ere, not only the Vanne waterworks, but
also those of Somme-Soude, shall have been completed.
Paris will then have at her disposal 37 millions of gallons a
day, which will correspond to 1 9 gallons of pure water to each
inhabitant. Let us hope that householders will make such
domestic arrangements as will enable their houses to be
speedily supplied with this precious and invaluable benefit.
The Seine, the Ourcq, the Artesian wells, and the springs
of Arcueil will then be used for the cleansing of the city ;
and our streets, our boulevards, our kennels, drains, &c.,
will be cleansed every day by a stream of water averaging
26 millions of gallons. When the undertaking is finally
achieved, Paris will be supplied with 58 gallons to each
inhabitant. This is, however, but small in comparison with
the volume of pure water enjoyed by ancient Rome, and
averaging 264 gallons each day to each inhabitant. Let us
return our warm thanks to the country of Champagne, which,
not only prodigal of the delicious wine of its hills, bestows
on us also with a free hand the pure and fresh water of its
springs.
In every country in which any attention is bestowed by
the municipal authorities of the towns to sanitary arrange-
234
WONDERS OF WATER.
ments much care is taken to ensure a good water-supply.
Everywhere associations are formed for the purpose of ob¬
taining an ample supply of the invaluable liquid. Thus, in
America the inhabitants of Chicago have built an immense
tunnel, sunk beneath the level of Lake Michigan, which fur¬
nishes them daily with a supply of water exceeding 44 millions
of gallons. In London the most enterprising undertakings
on the same subject are being brought under discussion.
The engraving (Fig. 52) represents the different modes of
carrying water in different countries ; it is probable that these
types will soon die out, the best method of distributing water
being the construction of an aqueduct, which by means of long
pipes brings into all dwellings a pure and cool water, instead
of a liquid polluted in a leather bottle or heated in a pail.
Drams.
To shed water profusely in the streets of a town, to distri¬
bute abundantly the liquid element among its numerous
inhabitants, to water frequently its squares and public walks,
all this constitutes the first part of the problem which we
have been examining. But in the town as in the fields,
drainage must follow irrigation, if we do not wish the city
to become unwholesome. When once the water has
fulfilled its purifying mission, when it has swept the gutters,
given drink to the citizens, and brightened up the gardens,
it has become corrupt, it has deteriorated and grown turbid,
it becomes charged with putrid matter, and has to be
removed from the city.
Paris had formerly but three drains — the Seine, which
went through Paris, and the natural drains, situated each on
one bank of the river ; the Bièvre, and the brook of Menil-
inontant, which, after having followed the course of the
THE WATER OF PARIS.
23 7
external boulevards, joined the Seine at Chaillot. The first
covered drain dates from 1343. At a later period, Francis L,
being desirous of removing a drain from the vicinity of his
palace at Tournelles, proposed to remove nearer to the mar¬
kets the polluted stream, the offensive odour of which had
mounted to the royal nostrils. But the provost of the mer¬
chants stoutly resisted the will of his majesty, and absolutely
refused to infect the markets and the Rue St. Denis. Francis
was obliged to change his residence, and erected the palace
of the Tuileries.
In 1610, Marie de Medicis, feeling anxious lest the health
of her subjects should suffer through the maladies which
threatened to result from the stagnant water and other nui¬
sances which accumulated in the drains, charged the trea¬
surer of France to see to their clearing. But notwithstanding
the directions of the queen, no cleansing of the drains was
made, save that which heaven accomplished by means of
rain. Water was literally wanting for drink, and the evil
grew greater and greater each day.
Towards the middle of the eighteenth century Turgot
caused the sewer of Menilmontant, which gave out the most
disagreeable and unwholesome exhalations, to be cleared out.
At the commencement of the present century the sewers
were cleared out, but the absence of water was long an ob¬
stacle to this process.
In fact it was not so long ago that the subterranean
arrangements of Paris were still a real source of danger to
the public health, of which fact we need no stronger confir¬
mation than will be afforded us by the perusal of a work
published in 1824, by Parent-Duchatelet, on the subject,
stating the inconveniences resulting from the then existing
system. Parent-Duchatelet distinguishes in the drains six
238
WONDERS OF WATER.
different species of emanation prejudicial to health. The
least disagreeable one, which is peculiar to the better sort
of drains, is a faint odour, which, though not so disgusting
as some of the others, yet enervates and produces sickness.
The next specifies an ammojiiacal odour , which produces
ophthalmia; then a still more dangerous escape of sulplmrettcd
hydrogen , which strikes those venturing too near with a species
of asphyxia. We need not enter into particulars respecting
the other three. We may leave the reader’s imagination to
picture the injury which clociccz shedding these abominable
odours through the town must have done to health. In the
year 1830 we find a decided improvement in the sewerage
of Paris, resulting from the cleaning out of the drains effected
by the canal of Ourcq. But this incontestable progress was
accompanied by an evil which still exists. The impure
streams which traversed the Parisian soil discharged them¬
selves in the centre of the town into the Seine itself, in black
torrents, which every one walking on the quays must have
remarked polluting the shores of our river and poisoning the
air in the neighbourhood.
This odious and uncivilised system is about to disappear.
The drains will in future discharge their contents into a large
reservoir, which will carry the drainage-water of Paris down
stream below the bridge of Asnières, after having traversed
Clichy in a tunnel.
This work will be the most remarkable and the greatest
of any of the same kind which have been undertaken by any
nation. The cloaca maxima of ancient Rome, which has
hitherto been considered with reason the masterpiece of
sewerage works, is smaller in its dimensions. The form of
the Asnières drain is oval.
In a few years’ time the numerous ramifications of the
THE WATER OF PARIS.
239
subterranean hydraulic system of Paris will all be constructed
on the model of the drain which forms a vast tunnel under
the macadamised road of the Boulevard de Sebastopol.
During the whole course of this subterranean artery the
odour is so slight that one is able to perceive the smell which
emanates from the neighbouring perfumery establishments.
An interesting journey can be made through this subterranean
way, either in a boat or by train, and the sense of smell is
not subjected to too severe trials. Underneath every house
a sink will be in communication with the drain, and the
cleansing of cesspools will be managed underground, by
means of wagons which will glide rapidly over iron rails.
These subterraneous conduits will also receive the telegraph
wires, the water-pipes, and perhaps those for the gas of Paris.
In 1853 Paris and the suburbs had 119 miles of drains,
which, placed end to end along the Lyons railway, would
have reached the town of Tonnerre. In a few years they
will form an immense canal, which, drawn out in a straight
line in the direction of Berlin, would enable the Parisians,
were they so minded, to invade the Prussian capital under¬
ground.
Notwithstanding all these improvements, there are some
subjects for regret in this vast network of subterranean high¬
ways. The impure waters which circulate therein do not, it
is true, any longer flow into the Seine in the middle of Paris,
but they poison the river below Asnières, to the very natural
annoyance of those who live on its banks. In the second
place, the drainage waters of the capital, disagreeable and
injurious as they are to man, are highly beneficial to the
vegetable world ; they are a source of nourishment, nay, of
life, for cereals, vegetables, fruit, and all the productions of
the earth. A mine of gold is thus thrown into the sea, and
2 40
WONDERS OF WATER.
is consequently a dead loss to the country from which it
comes.
Let us hope that our descendants, carrying to perfection
those works which their forefathers commenced, will be able
to draw profit from this source of wealth, so neglected by
ourselves ; that they will give to the soil the liquid distilled
in the veins of our great cities, and pay those cities back by
the cultivation of a new source of prosperity.
Yet let not these imperfections lead us to exaggerated
complaints ; let us look back to the past, and recal the Paris
of the middle ages, in which the burghers had only one litre
of unwholesome water per diem. Let us think of our ances¬
tors, who, always incommoded by exhalations the most fatal
to health, had, whenever they walked through the streets, to
cross streams of dirty water. Pure water, shed over our towns,
after having fulfilled its useful work, will one day answer all
the requirements of agriculture ; the sewage extracted from
inhabited spots by the great system of drainage now being
carried on, will be transformed into wheat and barley. The
circle will be complete. The drop of water carried by the
hand of man, will have a mission similar to that of the other
drop which the hand of Nature has snatched from the sea, in
order to shed it upon the continents which it is destined to
fertilise.
CHAPTER VIII.
ARTESIAN WELLS.
Subterranean Reservoirs.
IT is not merely from the beds of rivers that man can
draw the liquid which is so indispensable to his
existence. The earth on which our cities stand conceals
subterranean aquatic treasures which are ample enough to
water entire countries and to quench the thirst of the most
densely populated towns; but these vast reservoirs are de¬
fended by rocky strata, which seem to play the part of the
dragons of ancient fable. What unwearying labour is re¬
quired to enable us to possess ourselves of these treasures
which Nature seems to hide from our view !
It is interesting to read of Arago, who, after waiting with
unexampled perseverance, at length beheld water bubbling
up in the wells of Grenelle, bearing witness to his genius
and to the justice of his predictions.
The great masses of water which lie upon the surface of
the globe are situated at different elevations above the surface
of the sea. The waters of some lakes, such as those of Lake
Panin in Auvergne, and of Oeschi in Switerland, are at great
elevations, in natural reservoirs hollowed out of mountains.
Q
242
WONDERS OF WATER.
We can suppose that water from a height penetrates by-
subterranean channels into the earth, and thus extends to a
great distance from the point whence it started. If the soil
be pierced above these subterranean waters, the liquid,
obedient to the laws of hydrostatics, will rise in the hole
thus thrown open to it, until it reaches the level of the
original reservoir whence it escaped. If, however, the level
of the reservoir be above that of the soil in which the
Artesian fountain has been bored, the water gushes up like
an immense jet d'eau.
Artificial water-works are, in fact, merely varieties of Artesian
wells. Those of the Tuileries, for instance, draw their water
from the hills of Chaillot, and rise to a considerable height,
merely from following the natural law by which water seeks
its own level. We can illustrate these principles by a tube
in the shape of the letter U If water be poured into one
branch, it will rise in the other until the levels of the water
in the two tubes is the same.
This simple principle has always been regarded as ap¬
plicable to Artesian wells. In 1671, Cassini said, speaking
of the fountains of Modena, “ Possibly these waters have
travelled by subterranean channels from the heights of the
Apennines, a distance of ten miles.”
All water situated in the soil will not, however, rise to the
surface. There are certain waters generally to be found at
a slight depth, which furnish merely an impure fluid, often
adulterated with the fetid infiltrations of cities. Those boring
an Artesian well must penetrate farther. They must force
their way into the soil, and they will be rewarded by ulti¬
mately overcoming all obstacles and finding a copious supply
of pure water.
The prophets of Brahma understood the art of digging
ARTESIAN WELLS.
243
wells ; and in China there is an artificial excavation, of which
the origin is extremely ancient, and which was originally
destined for the purpose of finding rock salt. This well has
a depth of 63S yards. The Chinese, our predecessors in so
many valuable and useful discoveries, have long understood
-the art of boring Artesian wells.
Artesian wells were introduced into France in the year
1 126. The first was executed in Artois, and the name cf
that province has been bestowed on these fountains. In
the 17th century Cassini caused an Artesian well to be
constructed at fort Urbain, capable of throwing up water to
the height of sixteen feet above the level of the ground.
Bernard de Palissy, who may be looked upon as the father
of geology, since he was the first to recognise that fossils are
vestiges of former organised beings, had also conceived the
idea of the Artesian well.
After the well of Artois, and that of Cassini, other wells
were dug in various localities, in which the water was not far
below the soil. The most remarkable fountains which have
been obtained in France have been at Tours, at Saint-
Ouen, at Elbeuf, and at Perpignan. England and Germany
have also raised the precious liquid from the bowels of the
earth by Artesian wells.
The Well of Grenelle.
Five years subsequently to the Revolution of July, Arago
having proved that the subsoil of Paris was adapted to collect
the subterranean water which extended over the neighbour-
ing country, and that Nature herself seemed thus to have
adopted the system of centralisation with regard to waters
which travel through the interior of the earth, induced the
municipal council to provide for the wants of the metropolis
244
WONDERS OF WATER.
by having certain wells sunk. Arago and others affirmed
that subterranean water existed beneath the level of our.
capital. But at what depth was the water to be found ?
The result of the investigations showed that these subter-
ranean reservoirs were protected by a formidable stratum,
of which the dimensions were worthy of one of the principal
capitals in the civilised world.
Arago proposed to pierce the deposit formed by the creta¬
ceous ocean, and to reach the green sands, the outcrop of
which appeared on the surface in the neighbourhood of.
Troyes. The council of ministers appeared hesitating and
perplexed, but Arago guaranteed the success of his under¬
taking, and in due time received authority to carry out his,
scheme.
On the 29th of November, 1833, the implements which
were to carry out one of the greatest boring works which
have ever perhaps been executed, were carried to Grenelle.
The machine was at first worked by several men ; but men.
were soon replaced by horses, and the direction of the works;
was confided to M. Mulot, who displayed, through the whole
of the undertaking, the most indomitable perseverance. What
mortifications, what cruel disappointments had he not to en¬
dure ! But he had faith in the ultimate success of his scheme,
and was certain of ultimately bringing it to a happy issue.
The first portion of the work was completed without
obstacle ; but in undertakings of that description it must be-
borne in mind that the difficulties augment in proportion as
the work advances. Many times during the progress of
this work, which was commenced in 1833, the borer broke
and became lost in the well. What a perplexity to the
engineer, who has not only lost his tool, but finds the road
which he ought to open into the ground, blocked up with
ARTESIAN WELLS.
245
■an enormous mass of steel ! How is he ever to remove
from a dark hole, full of mud, full of water, fragments ot
iron firmly fixed in the stone ?
Arago himself relates the thousand hindrances which he
•found in his work, and the varied emotions to which it gave
^occasion. On the 30th of November, 1834, the borer broke
■into seven pieces, and could only be got away three months
-later. Again, four years after the commencement of the work,
■in 1837, the tool fell for the third time by a cable breaking.
The work was thus delayed for a space of fourteen months.
IN o thing as yet announced that the well was approaching
completion. The funds became exhausted, and still the
water was not reached. It appeared, indeed, as if these
deplorable accidents would be certain to put an end to
the whole undertaking.
But Arago, fertile in resources, and possessed of a per¬
suasive eloquence, succeeded in reviving the confidence of
those on whose aid he depended for the carrying on of his
work, and in spite of new difficulties constantly arising, the
work went on. Daily they came nearer and nearer to the
liquid so much desired.
At length this admirable enterprise reached the wished-
for termination.
They had reached a depth of five hundred and ninety-
six yards, when on the 25th February, 1841, the borer
brought up the green sand, very wet and clayey, which
greatly revived their hopes. Consequently, at an early hour
the next morning, masters and men were already at their
posts.
The following day the borer went down easily to a length
•of 1 '6 feet. It was a good sign. Suddenly the horses which
were being used in the works experienced a violent shock,
246
WONDERS OF WATER.
which broke the machinery, and the director of the works-
cried out, “ The borer is broken , or we have /he water !,y
Presently a gushing sound was heard, and the water rushed
up with force.
Some hours later, Arago, who was then present at a sitting
of the Chamber, received the following note : —
“ Monsieur Arago,
“ We have the water. “ Mulot.”
This occurred on the 26th of February, 1841, at thirty-two-,
minutes past two.
The work was commenced on the 29th of November, 1833..
The Well of Passy.
The works which had been executed at Grenelle only cost
the city of Paris ^£14,000, and the sale of the waters of the
new well to public establishments and private individuals
soon covered the expenses of the enterprise. The municipal
council, when they listened to the advice of Arago, had
made an excellent monetary speculation. It was thought
that new Artesian fountains 'would give the supply of
water of which Paris stood in need, but it was not so.
In 1850, the city of Paris conceived the idea of trans¬
forming the Bois de Boulogne into an English garden, and
required, necessarily, a large supply of water to fill the in¬
tended lakes, feed the artificial rivers, imitate the falls of
the Rhine, and improve to the utmost the walks which were
to be the delight of the citizens.
A German engineer, M. Kind, announced that he would
undertake to make a fountain, by constructing an Artesian
well upwards of a yard in diameter, which should furnish,
17,000 cubic yards daily.
ARTESIAN WELLS.
247
A commission was appointed to examine into this offer’
and the feasibility of accepting it ; the commission finally
determined that the offer should be accepted. It would
have probably been considered as too great an expenditure
of money, had it been a plan for supplying the wants of the
needy, or a project for setting on foot some exclusively
useful work ; but superfluities were supposed to be indispen¬
sable to the well-being of Paris, and the requirements of
luxury have often provoked efforts more energetic, more
laborious, and more self-denying, than those connected with
health or public utility.
The administration, impatient to terminate the works
which had been commenced at the Bois de Boulogne, exacted
of the engineer the promise that they should be finished in a
year’s time. M. Kind accordingly engaged to complete the
Artesian well of Passy in twelve months, promising also
that the expenditure incurred should not exceed ^14,000.
But he doubtless had forgotten at the time that the best-laid
plans are frequently overthrown by unlooked-for contingencies,
for, as it proved, the well of Passy cost four times more
money, and took four times longer time for its completion,
than had been anticipated at the beginning. But if we take
into consideration the difficulties which had to be met, we
can only congratulate ourselves on having obtained so
successful a result even at that price.
The well of Grenelle was dug by means of a drill with
steel teeth, which, being raised and let fall, by its weight
broke the rock which it was penetrating. The improvement
made by M. Kind consisted in such modifications of the drill
and boring rod as prevented the terrible shocks which formed
one of the greatest difficulties in digging the well of Grenelle.
When once the rock is sufficiently broken by the drill, that
24S
WONDERS OF WATERS.
implement is withdrawn from the hole, and replaced by a
tool which carries away the débris of the rocks and the pul¬
verised matter. This tool is a cylinder, fitted at its lower
part by a valve which opens from the exterior to the interior.
When this cylinder is forced down, the valve opens, permit
ting the sand and fragments of rock to penetrate into it.
When it is raised the valve closes, and so imprisons the
materials, which can thus be drawn away from the well.
As the drill goes deeper into the earth, it is necessary to
line the well with an iron tube, which is intended to form a
water-tight channel by closing any apertures through which
the water might escape when on its way to the surface. The
operation of tubing is very dangerous, and proved, during
the digging of the well of Passy, the cause of numerous
accidents, which nearly compromised the success of this great
enterprise. After protracted efforts and assiduous toil, the
engineers attained the depth of the well of Grenelle, and the
water came rushing violently up to the surface of the ground.
As soon as this new supply issued from the bosom of the
earth, the quantity of water furnished by the well of Grenelle
diminished sensibly.
The well of Passy, though deep, is less so than some other
wells, which reach from 650 to 700 yards. The wells of
New-Salzwerck and Mondorff, for instance, go into the earth
to a depth of 400 and 798 yards. The water of the well of
Passy is lukewarm, and indeed in every respect resembles
that of Grenelle. It becomes fit for the table as soon as it
has dissolved the gases of the air and reached a temperature
sufficiently low.
ARTESIAN WELLS.-
249
Utilisation of the Central Heat of the Globe by means of
Artesian 1 Veils.
For many centuries successive generations of travellers
have traversed the earth from one end to another, and given
us descriptions of lands hitherto unknown. So great is the
•extent of these explorations that the time is approaching
•when we shall have made known to us the whole superficial
extent of the globe. But it is otherwise with subterranean
geography. What mysteries are concealed beneath the
earth’s surface ! The depths of the earth are as little under¬
stood as the depths of the firmament, and we are little more
acquainted with the constitution of our own planet than with
that of the most remote star; and yet how deeply interesting,
.as well as useful, are subterranean explorations, and what
result could be more advantageous than to utilise the central
heat of our planet !
Volcanoes, hot springs, and Artesian wells, all prove that
an excessive heat reigns at a certain depth. Enormous
expenses are incurred in bringing to the surface of the earth
the coal necessary to supply us with heat ; but would it not
be possible to bring the heat itself, instead of the combus¬
tibles which produce it? Is there anything impracticable in
the idea of sending into the bowels of the earth water which
should come back boiling to the surface of the soil, and
supply us with the steam necessary for our machinery?
All things may be accomplished by means of heat. Human
labour is replaced by the labour which is produced by the
combination of a few pounds of coal. By means of fire, the
inclemencies of the seasons and the inconveniences of in¬
temperate climates may be warded off, alimentary substances
nnay be modified, the development cf plants aided, bodies
250
WONDERS OF WATER.
decomposed, and the number of vegetable productions
possible in any given climate infinitely extended.
What we have to do, therefore, is to snatch from the
jealous grasp of earth that precious element which it possesses
in such great abundance, and to remember that Prometheus,
when he bestowed fire on man, gave him the empire of the
world. The earth is a vast mine of heat, which ought not to
be left unworked. We are not here speaking of the well of
Maupertuis, that famous well of which Voltaire writes, which
ought to cross the globe from one side to the other, in order
that we might have the pleasure, when standing upon its.
edge, of seeing our antipodes. Here we have only to
pierce to a depth of a few miles at most, and then we shall
have attained the temperature of boiling water. Elie de-
Beaumont, Walferdin, and Babinet have more than once
succeeded in drawing public attention to this great question,
without, nevertheless, obtaining any results. Will this vast
enterprise ever be realised ? That is a question we cannot
answer ; we can but hope that one day some second Arago
will accomplish this task, gigantic if we compare it with a
man’s stature, but small indeed relatively to the diameter of
our terrestial sphere. A great number of geologists, and
other men of science, have already thrown out the idea
which we are here reproducing ; but the day is probably still,
a distant one which will enable us to make of the earth itself
an inexhaustible mine of boiling water and of motive force.
CHAPTER IX.
THE OASIS IN THE DESERT.
IF the countries through which roll rivers and cool water
courses offer to us the gladdening spectacle of abundant
vegetation and natural luxuriance, arid and dry countries
present nothing to our sight but endless wastes of sand, en¬
tirely devoid of verdure, and forming a picture of wildness
and desolation.
But if in the midst of these burning deserts, dried up as
they are by the rays of the sun, water comes bursting from
the earth, the sands will no longer be sterile, but impart life
to plants, which rapidly grow up beneath the influence of a
beneficent moisture, and the desert will speedily be covered
with verdure which, spreading its dimensions daily further
and further, will form the subsistence of the animals which
make it their abode. To Nature dying, barren, and desolate,
will succeed Nature rich, living, animated, gay with the
charms of a generous vegetation.
The vast desert of Sahara has not always been a plain of
sand, and the numerous sea shells which are to be met with
there, teach plainly that the site of the Sahara was once
covered by the sea. On some of its hills we can even discern
2 C 2
WONDERS OF WATER.
traces of the action of the waves, and the sand is usually
impregnated with salt. Here and there, indeed, salt lakes
occur, like the last drops which adhere to the bottom of a
vase that has been emptied.
It is probable that the ocean, which formerly covered the
desert, dried up slowly, and has gradually risen from it in
the form of vapour. Rain is very rare in these burning
zones ; the mountains which are to be found there are but
seldom crowned with a diadem of snow, and Heaven refuses
to these regions the water of which she is so prodigal in other
countries. The water evaporated by the sun has never been
replaced, and in time an inland sea has been dried up. A
sea of sand has replaced the liquid ocean, and the eye of the
traveller who traverses these deserts penetrates to a remote
horizon without perceiving anything save an infinitely pro¬
longed plain, a vast sheet of a yellowish hue, without visible
limit.
But beneath the sand of this desert lies a liquid layer,
which man can utilise, and for many years modes of
digging wells have been known to the native tribes who
inhabit the borders of Sahara. Tools of the rudest character
are employed. Armed with the most indomitable patience,
they slowly dig into the earth; little by little they make their
way into the ground, scraping away and throwing upon the
edge of the hole they have made the earth as they dig it out.
After having successively pierced the layers of sand, gravel,
and clay, they attain a hard crust not unlike slate. This
envelope covers the precious liquid, the Bahr-el-Tahani
{sea below the earth ) ; to penetrate this crust is the last effort
of these indefatigable workers, for the water then bursts forth
with great ascensional force.
If the diggers frequently risk their lives, they have the
THE OASIS IN THE DESERT.
o r
-DO
consolation of finding themselves the objects of absolute
veneration by their compatriots; they form a corporation,
known under the name of “Ghattas,” and the severest labour
is for them the noblest ambition. They are deterred by no
obstacle ; and the well which is dug in ground perfectly dry
s frequently finished under a depth of water many yards in
thickness, due to the waters of infiltration which it is impos¬
sible to avoid.
Picture these unhappy natives, compelled to plunge in the
liquid and remain in it a few moments at a time, labouring
in the muddy water, and bringing up again the few handfuls
of sand which they have extracted, hoisting themselves up
by means of a rope.
When their task is thus difficult, they are unable to accom¬
plish in one day more than two or three subterranean jour¬
neys, hence it arises that the work proceeds with a slowness
in the highest degree discouraging. The labours of several-
years are not sufficient to enable them to reach the wished-
for goal, that of snatching from the sand of the desert the
water with which it seems loth to part.
“ Sometimes,” says M. Ch. Laurent, “ it happens that
a plunger is suffocated, either before he reaches the bottom,
or during his work, or whilst he is reascending to the
light of day. One of his companions, who holds the cord
which serves at the same time for direction and for signal,
being warned by certain pulls that his fellow-labourer is
in danger, hurries to his succour, whilst another replaces him
at his post of observation, which he in turn has to quit, at
a new signal calling him to the help of his two comrades.”
Different indeed is this rude and elementary industry from
the scientific method of digging wells possessed in our
country ; different indeed these handfuls of sand, extracted
WONDERS OF WATER.
254
with so much difficulty, from the masses of rock which are
broken through by our formidable drills, and to remove
the fragments of which an immense iron ladle is employed.
Nothing can resist our powerful implements, whereas a
somewhat heavy layer of stone is to the native engineers an
insurmountable barrier.
The well once dug, several beams of wood are placed
along its sides to prevent their falling in ; notwithstanding
which precaution, these wells are not long-lived. In a short
time the moist soil sinks in, and the spring so hailed and
blessed is dried up for ever. Near the fountain the husband¬
man has been able to live, finding there the subsistence
needful for his existence, a few palm-trees having protected
with their foliage the first growths of the desert. But the
well is choked ; the oasis is destroyed. The burning wind
from the desert destroys these vestiges of human industry —
verdure and cultivation speedily disappear.
Two French engineers, M.M. Fournel and Dubocq, were
the first who substituted our methods of boring for the
simple and primitive proceedings of the Arabs. General
Desvaux gave them a cordial and powerful support.
“ Chance,” says this officer, in a report addressed to the
Governor of Algeria, “ led me to the summit of a sand-hill
which overlooks the entire oasis. It would be totally
impossible for me to describe to you the impression which
the sight of this oasis gave me. On my right were verdant
palm-trees, cultivated gardens, in a word — life ; while on my
left were sterility, desolation, death. I sent for the Scheik
and the inhabitants, and was informed by them that the
reason of this difference consisted in the northern well being
choked up by the sand. In a few days the whole popula¬
tion would have dispersed, forsaking their hearths and the
THE OASIS IN THE DESERT.
255
graveyards where their fathers slept. I saw in a moment,
on hearing this, what valuable results would accrue to this
country from Artesian wells, and thanks to you, who have so
kindly received and encouraged my suggestions, life will be
restored to many of the oases, and the future is pregnant
with hopes of a most cheering character/’
In 1855 M. Ch. Laurent took the command of an
-exploring party for the purpose of reporting on Artesian wells,
and it was not long ere an expedition for boring was
equipped, and M. Jus, a civil engineer, took the direction
of the works for the well at Philippeville. The implements
which this work necessitated were, under great difficulties,
transported to the Oasis of Tamerna ; but at length every¬
thing was in order, and, on the 1st of May, the boring was
commenced upon the soil of Sahara. Five weeks later
they had reached a depth of sixty-six yards, when suddenly
a terrible noise was heard, and an immense torrent burst
forth from the bowels of the earth, a torrent so abundant
as to furnish 880 gallons per second.
The workmen thus received an ample recompence for
their labours, which, for more than a month, had never been
suspended, in spite of the rays of a sun when the thermometer
indicated 46° in the shade.
The inhabitants of Tamerna and its neighbourhood were
immediately informed of the good news, and rushed in a
body to the spot. Every one wished to be present at the
miracle, and to see with his or her own eyes this water
which the French had been able to obtain in five weeks, while
the natives had required an equal number of years and five
times as many labourers. Women and children of all ages
rushed towards the bubbling spring, and drank of it out of
the cans of our soldiers. With frantic delight they embraced
256
WONDERS OF WATER.
one another, and cries of joy disturbed the silence of these
sandy plains.
This first well set a good example, and in a short time
five others were sunk in the desert. The Sahara became
enriched with a quantity of water equivalent to the current
of a small river.
At Badna, at Biskara, at Ourlana, fresh Artesian fountains
were dug ; and at the present time the eastern Sahara is
fertilised by bubbling springs, which pour upon the arid
soil 130,000 cubic yards of water every twenty-four hours !
Henceforward man and civilisation will be enabled to
invade these immense sandy plains, these vast deserts which
arrest the development of life in certain parts of continents;
and the human family will extend itself, thanks to Artesian
wells, into regions which have been hitherto held accursed,
but which can now be transformed into a vast oasis.
During the last ten years 150,000 palm trees have sprung
up on the soil of Sahara, rendered fertile by the digging of
Artesian wells ; and these generous trees, by the shade they
impart, daily improve the soil by sheltering it from the
piercing rays of the burning sun.
Day by day the branches grow larger and spread further;
and in proportion as they do so, cultivation of the ground
beneath their shadow becomes easier. Certain parts of
Algeria, which formerly suffered from the effects of the
simoom, and the silicious soil of which was covered with a
monotonous mantle of arid sand, are now hidden under a
soft envelope of fertile earth, on which apricot trees grow,
and from which, even in winter, crops of barley and other
grains can be raised.
Too much praise cannot be bestowed on these noble
undertakings, which have been crowned with such encourag-
TME OASIS IN THE DESERT.
ing success ; and the sinking these wells in the desert may¬
be considered as one of the most lasting and glorious results of
our invasion of Algeria, for this victory is entirely pacific,
a hundred times preferable to those which are won at the
price of blood. May these works inaugurate a new era, in
which the reign of the sword shall give place to those battles
which are waged by industry and agriculture !
We might prolong indefinitely our enumeration of the
services rendered by water to man, to science, and to
industry ; and we should never have finished if we had to
speak in detail of the multifarious uses to which the precious
liquid lends itself. Steam, the great motive power, animates
those engines of which every branch of industry makes so
great a use ; it is steam which carries the locomotive along
the iron rail ; it is steam which carries through the sea those
enormous vessels, of which the paddles beat the waves like
the fins of some formidable marine monster. Thanks to
steam, industrious England has multiplied her forces tenfold.
We find, from recent calculations, that the work she
accomplishes annually by the aid of steam is equivalent to
that which would be produced by 400 million men ! As a
liquid, water turns the mill-wheel and grinds our corn.
Rivers and canals also assist in effecting communication
between provinces and countries. These “ moving highways ”
form the basis of commerce and of the intercourse between
nation and nation. M. de Lesseps, in cutting the canal
across the Isthmus of Suez, opens to Europe the high-road
to India, and thus uniting two seas, the mingling of whose
waters will give to civilisation a new impulse, he may be
considered a worthy representative of modern science.
But all these questions, interesting as they are, must be
passed over in silence, that our picture may not exceed the
R
WONDERS OF WATER.
253
prescribed limits of its frame. Our little book is not, pro¬
perly speaking, a scientific work, and we have only endea¬
voured to explain a few important facts in the history of one
of the most potent bodies in Nature ; we have simply sketched
the part which it plays in the harmony of the world, the im¬
portance of studying it, and the advantage of its employment
in industry and hygiene.
Jean Jacques Rousseau pretended that he considered
science to have the effect of rendering men guilty and
miserable, and avowed his preference for the ignorant man
who led a peaceful life unconcerned about what surrounded
him, over the scientific man who interrogated Nature. He
forgot that it was not in man’s own power to resist the
noble aspirations which stir within him, the desire of know¬
ledge which urges him on, the insatiable craving which will
not suffer him to be at rest.
An ignorant man can, indeed, enjoy the physical pleasures
of material life, but it is forbidden to him to enjoy the un¬
bounded felicity which Nature reserves for him who com¬
prehends her secrets, and to taste the ineffable joy of the
seeker who succeeds in inscribing some lines, however few,
in the vast volume of human knowledge.
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