Chap. IV.
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by a scythe of a novel form, of iron, about ten feet in length, with a cord attached ateach end. A man walking on each bank, by means of ropes, drew this concave cuttingknife along the bottom, when the plants bending in a contrary direction to the movementof the scythe, became easily separated; it was found that when the roots were left, theplants, after cutting, shot up much stronger.
The Cloaca Maxima, or great sewer of Rome , is constructed with large blocks of Albanostone, called Pepperino; it carried off the waters from the Forum, and drained the public
ELEVATION.
buildings into the Tiber . It is about 14 feet in widt h, and 32 feet in height; the archwhich covers it is semicircular, and formed "of three rings of voussoirs. Where it entersthe Tiber , the banks are protected by walls of asimilar construction ; at present, from the eleva-tion of the bed of the river, the upper part only,which is arched over, can be seen ; this greatwork is said to have been executed in the timeof the kings; its solidity is remarkable, and itsarch is sufficiently strong to bear any weightsthat could pass over it. When the habitationsof the Romans were mere huts, it seems extraor-dinary that so costly a construction for the pur-poses of drainage should have been executed, butit show’s that in the early history of their city, allthat was undertaken for public utility w as carriedout with a spirit and magnificence surpassing anything done by other nations who have advancedmore in civilisation and refinement.
One of the chief causes of the unhealthiness ofRome at the present day is the imperfect state ofits drainage. This vast sew r er, buried by thefilling up of the river, no longer serves to conveythe accumulations of filth, or the waters from thelow valleys between the hills, where it is nowsuffered to pass off either by evaporation or fil-tration. When the Coliseum was examined someyears ago, and the earth taken out between theAvails that supported the arena, a quantity ofwater drained into the excavations, and remainedthere, the Cloaca Maxima no longer carrving it off, ;
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; it formerly did in the most effectual