‹‹‹ Vitr. 8.3.14 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 8.3.16 ›››
15Some sorts of water are mortal in their effects: these receive their quality from the poisonous moisture of the lands through which they flow. Such is said to be the Neptunian spring at Terracina, of which those who thoughtlessly drank, lost their lives; hence the antients are said to have stopped it up: and in the country of the Cychri, in Thrace, there is a lake, of which not only those who drink, but those who bathe therein die. In Thessaly, also, flows a spring which no cattle will drink, nor even approach: near it a shrub grows, which bears a purple flower.
15Deadly kinds of water are also found, which run through soil containing a noxious juice, and take in its poisonous quality: for instance, there is said to have been a spring at Terracina, called the spring of Neptune, which caused the death of those who thoughtlessly drank from it. In consequence, it is said that the ancients stopped it up. At Chrobs in Thrace there is a lake which causes the death not only of those who drink of it, but also of those who bathe in it. In Thessaly there is a gushing fount of which sheep never taste, nor does any sort of creature draw near to it, and close by this fount there is a tree with crimson flowers.