CHAP. 11.—WATERS WHICH AID THE MEMORY, OR ARE PRODUCTIVE OF FORGETFULNESS.
At the Temple[2967] of the god Trophonius, in Bœotia, near the river Hercynnus, there are two fountains,[2968] one of which aids the memory, while the other is productive of forgetfulness: hence the names which they respectively bear.
CHAP. 12.—WATERS WHICH SHARPEN OR DULL THE SENSES. WATERS WHICH IMPROVE THE VOICE.
Near the town of Cescum, in Cilicia, runs the river Nus,[2969] the waters of which, according to Varro, sharpen the intellect; while those of a certain spring in the island of Cea dull the senses. At Zama, in Africa, there is a spring, the waters of which render the voice more musical.[2970]
CHAP. 13.—WATERS WHICH CAUSE A DISTASTE FOR WINE. WATERS WHICH PRODUCE INEBRIETY.
Eudoxus says that persons who drink the water[2971] of Lake Clitorius take a distaste for wine, and Theopompus asserts that the waters of the springs already[2972] named are productive of inebriety. According to Mucianus,[2973] there is a fountain at Andros, consecrated to Father Liber, from which wine flows during the seven days appointed for the yearly festival of that god, the taste of which becomes like that of water the moment it is taken out of sight of the temple.
CHAP. 14.—WATERS WHICH SERVE AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR OIL.
Polyclitus says, that the water[2974] of the river Liparis,[2975] near Soli, in Cilicia, is used as a substitute for oil, and Theophrastus mentions a spring of that name in Æthiopia, which is possessed of similar properties. Lycus says, that at Tasitia[2976] there is a fountain of it, the water of which emits light: the same is asserted, too, of a spring at Ecbatana. According to Theopompus, there is a lake at Scotussa,[2977] the waters of which heal wounds.
CHAP. 15.—SALT AND BITTER WATERS.
Juba says, that in the country of the Troglodytæ there is a lake, called the “Lake of Insanity,”[2978] from its highly noxious properties: thrice a day it becomes salt and bitter, and then again fresh, the same taking place as many times during the night. It is full, he says, of white serpents, twenty cubits long.[2979] He mentions, also, a certain spring in Arabia, which rises from the ground with such remarkable force, as to throw back any object pressed down upon it, however weighty.