was carried formerly five or six leagues, the Turks have left only here and there a frag- ment remaining."* Dr. Pococke, another English traveller, who visited the same region about half a cen- tury later, presents a nearly similar account of these works.! " We spent," says he, " another day in seeing the pools of Solomon. Descending the hills of Bethlehem to the south, we passed over a narrow valley and ascended the opposite hills, on the sides of which there is an aqueduct which conveys the water from the sealed fountain to Jerusalem. It here winds round the side of these hills, and is afterwards carried through the plains to Jerusalem, on a level with the surface of the ground. * * * A little beyond this place, we came to the pools of Solomon, as they are commonly called, for there is a tradition that these were made by him, as well as the aqueduct, which seems to be confirmed by a passage in Josephus, who says there were pleasant gardens abounding with water at Epham, about 50 furlongs, or 6 1-4 miles from Jerusalem, to which Solomon used frequently to go. * The Talmudists also mention that the water was brought by Solomon to Jerusalem, from the fountain of Epham, so that it is very probable these are the works of Solomon, as well as the aqueduct, though no express mention of it is made by any author, so as positively to fix it to this place. * * * The aqueduct is built on a foundation of stone, the water runs in round earthen pipes about 10 inches diameter, which are cased with two stones hewn so as to fit them, and they are covered over with rough stones well cemented together, and the whole so sunk in the ground on the sides of the hills, that in many places nothing is to be seen of it." It seems, however, to have been reserved for Rome and her great race, to exhibit what science, united with labor and wealth, could accomplish in this way for the health, comfort, and luxury of its citizens. Both Pliny and Vitruvius treat of Aqueducts, and their descriptions are curious, as giving the methods used in the construction of these works, among the greatest wonders of Rome, and as indicating a knowledge of some hydrodynamical laws, the discovery .of which is usual] y assigned to a much later period. Ducts of water according to Vitruvius, were of three kinds — channels of masonry, leaden pipes, or tubes of fictile ware, according to the following rules ; when channels are used they should be made as solid as possible, and the bed of the stream should have a descent not less than half a foot in 100 feet, and they should be arched over, that the sun's rays may not touch the water. When the water arrives at the city, a castellum or reservoir is built, and a triple emissary to receive the water is adjoined to it. In the castellum are three pipes, equally disposed within the adjoining recep- * Vide Maundrel, in Pinkerton's Collection — [Asia] vol. iv., p. 350. 1. t Vide Pococke, in Pinkerton's Collection — [Asia] vol. iv., p. 439. O 10 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. tacle, so that when there is too much water, it may from the sides be discharged into the middle receptacle. In the middle channel are fixed the pipes leading to all the cisterns or fountains, in another, those to the baths, which pay to the people a yearly tribute, and in a third, those to the private houses, if it be not wanted for public use, for they could not return it if they might have peculiar ducts from the spring head. This disposition is established, because by the tax on the water carried to private houses, the State keeps the aqueduct in repair. But, should mountains intervene between the city and the spring head, a subterra- nean passage is to be dug through the earth, having the declivity of one part in two hundred, and should the soil be either gravel or stone, a channel is to be cut into it, but walls are to be built to conduct the water through the earthy or sandy soils. Wells also, or air-holes are to be cut from the top of the water-channel to the surface, for the purpose of allowing the air .which might accumulate in the aqueduct to escape. These wells are directed to be placed at a distance of 120 feet. If the water be conducted by leaden pipes, a castellum or reservoir is first built at the spring head, then the diameter and strength of the pipes being suited to the quantity of water, they are to be carried