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very copious springs are found. These, however, arevery pernicious. Indeed they produce effects contraryto those of the hot springs which emit sulphur, alum, andbitumen: for when taken inwardly, passing through theintestines, they affect the nerves and joints, and producehard swellings on them. Hence the nerves are con-tracted by the swelling, in the direction of their length,and thus induce the cramp or the gout, because thevessels become saturated with hard gross cold particles.But there is a species of water, which, when not clear,has a foam, like a flower, swimming on its surface,of a colour similar to that of purple glass. It is knownat Athens more particularly, and, from the places andsprings in which it is found, it is conducted to thecity and to the Piraeus; but, on account of the causeabove-mentioned, no one drinks it, though it is in usefor washing and other purposes. They, therefore, toavoid its ill effects, drink the well water. The Troe-zenians are not able to escape this evil; for theyhave no other sort of water, except that of Cybdelus.Hence, in their city, all, or at least the greatest part,of the inhabitants are affected with diseases in thefeet. At Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, there is a river whosename is Cydnus, in which, if gouty persons steep theirfeet, they receive relief from it. There are, moreover,many other sorts of water, which have particular proper-ties, as the Himera, in Sicily, which, when it departs fromits source, is divided into two branches. That branchwhich flows towards AEtna, passing through a countryof sweet humidity, is exceedingly soft; the other,its course being through land where salt is dug, has asalt taste. At Parastonium, also, and on the road to the