On the Nature and Law of Waters

CHAPTER II.

On the Use of Water.

The usefulness of this discipline is abundantly clear from the necessity of water, not only for quenching thirst, but also for managing other affairs. For this reason, Vitruvius Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, the Roman architect whose ten-volume work served as the foundation for Renaissance engineering. not without merit writes in
Book 8, chapter 1. that water is most necessary for life, for pleasures, and for daily use.

§ 2. That daily use is observed in the irrigation of gardens, fields, forests, etc.; in the washing away of filth; in navigation; in the driving of machines; and in the preservation of fish and amphibians, etc. Compare Vincenzo Scamozzi An influential Venetian architect and writer on hydraulics., Architecture, part 1, book 3, chapter 25.

§ 3. Specifically, the economic use is seen in the cultivation of rice original: oryza, which does not grow except under water. For this reason, both in Italy and the East Indies, the fields are situated so that, by drawing water away at will, they can be dried, plowed, and sown; afterward, the water can be allowed to flood back in until the rice has matured.

§ 4. It is very well known that the fields in Egypt are made fertile by the annual flooding of the Nile. In the Cimbrian Chersonese The Jutland peninsula, comprising modern-day Denmark and Northern Germany., those fields which have at some time been submerged by water are considered the most fertile. Some farmers drain ponds, plow, and sow them, and after the harvest is finished, they flood them again. We also read that Yu original: Youm. This refers to Yu the Great, the legendary Chinese ruler famed for his introduction of flood control., the ninth Emperor of the Chinese, countered the sterility of fields with enormous aqueducts. Martinius, Chinese History, under the ninth Emperor.

§ 5. In war, water has a twofold use: namely, defensive and offensive. For fortifications surrounded by ditches filled with water are often stronger than those having dry ditches. Furthermore, those under siege can sometimes release water through sluices original: cataractas; here meaning floodgates or mechanisms to control water flow. into the enemy's camp and drown them, just as we read that cities in Belgium have several times been liberated from enemy siege. The fortification of Tönning A town in the Duchy of Schleswig, known for its significant fortress in the 17th century., belonging to our most Reverend and Serene Prince, is likewise equipped with such sluices, which, when opened, can flood the neighboring fields. Even the Emperor...