On the Nature and Law of Waters

§. 26. Another abuse of water is criticized in the Canon Mennam original: "Can. Mennam. 7. caus. 2. qu. 4." A reference to a specific decree in Canon Law. in these words: By Apostolic authority, we most firmly forbid the common ordeal The "vulgarem purgationem" refers to the "Judgment of God," a medieval practice where a defendant's guilt or innocence was determined by their physical reaction to unpleasant tests., a law made by no canonical sanction—namely, contact with boiling or cold water and red-hot iron. More on these abuses can be found in the previously cited Becmann, On the Judgments of God, chapter 3.

§. 27. Because of the supreme utility, and indeed the necessity of this element, the ancient Romans prohibited those who committed serious offenses from "water and fire" original: "aquæ & ign. interdixerunt." This was a form of Roman banishment known as "interdictio aquae et ignis," effectively stripping a person of their citizenship and means of survival. (§ 2. Institutes, on the loss of status original: "Inst. de cap. deminut." A reference to Justinian’s Institutes, a fundamental Roman legal text.), a law which we shall discuss further below.

CHAPTER III.

On the Origin and Progress of this Discipline.

§. 1.
The first mention of waters is made in Genesis 1:2, where we read that the Spirit of GOD moved over the primordial water. For we not unjustly conclude that this primordial water was not only salty, but additionally even frozen The author suggests the "waters" at the moment of creation were in a state of ice.; see Mathesius’ Moses, Title 1, § 3 & 5. Then, in the said chapter 1, verses 6 & 10, the waters were divided by GOD the Almighty Creator into those above the heavens—that is, fresh waters—and marine or salty waters, regarding which see the same Mathesius’ Moses, in the cited Title.

§. 2. The first water-conduits original: "aquæ-ductus." While usually meaning architectural aqueducts, the author here uses it to describe the natural irrigation of Eden. are described in Genesis 2:10, where we read that the Lord God brought forth a river from Eden to water the garden. We conjecture that this was subsequently collected into four pools, from which, as if from water-heads The "capitibus aquarum" refers to the source or "head" of a stream., those four most celebrated rivers flowed: namely, the Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates. Only two of these survived after the Deluge, namely the Hiddekel or Tigris (which the Persians call Tegil) and the Euphrates. See Mathesius’ Moses, Title 3, § 15 & 16, as well as Title 6, On Noah’s Flood, § 77.

§. 3. Furthermore, Moses mentions in Genesis 7:11 the fountains of the abyss, which, by the just judgment of GOD, poured out such a great abundance of water that, together with the falling rains, they extinguished almost the entire human race along with most animals in a universal Deluge. See the said Title 6, § 19.