Page:The Natural History of Pliny.djvu/172

 138 Flint's nattjeal histoet. [Book II the autumn^; that everything is soothed by oil, and that this is the reason why divers send out small quantities of it from their mouths, because it smoothes any part which is rough^ and transmits the light to them ; that snow never falls in the deep part of the sea^ ; that although water gene- rally has a tendency downwards, fountains rise up"*, and that this is the case even at the foot of ^tna^ burning as it does, so as to force out the sand like a ball of flame to the distance of 150 miles ? CHAP. 107. THE WONDEES OE EIEE AND WATEE UNITED. And now I must give an account of some of the wonders of fire, which is the fourth element of natui-e j but first those produced by means of water. CHAP. 108. (104.)— OE MALTHA. In Samosata, a city of Commagene^ there is a pool which discharges an inflammable mud, called JMaltha^. It adheres be longer in becoming raised or depressed than any particular portion of the land, where contemporary observations may be made. 1 The evaporation that is going on dm-mg the heats of summer, and the heavy rams which m many countries faU during the autunm, may produce the effects here described, m confined seas or inlets.. 2 The statement is true to a certain extent, as is proved by the well- known experiments of Franklin and others ; but the degree of the effect is considerably exaggerated. See the observations of Hardouin, Brotier and Alexandre ; Lemaire, i. 450, 451. ' 3 In the Mediterranean the warm vapours risuig from the water and Its shores may melt the snow as it descends ; but this is not the case in the parts of the main ocean which approach either to the Ai^ctic or the Antarctic regions. ■» The theory of springs is well understood, as depending upon the water tending to rise to its original level, so as to produce an equihbriimi of pressure. 5 When we consider the great extent of the base of ^tna, and that the crater is in the form of an inverted cone, we shall perceive that there is ample space for the existence of springs m the lower part of the moun- tam, without their coming in contact with the heated lava. 8 Samosata is situated on the Euphrates, m the north of Syria. 7 The Petroleum or Bitvmien of the modem chemists ; it is a tarry substance, more or less fluid, which has probably been produced by car- bonaceous matter, as affected by heat or decomposition, below the sur-