Note 405 — ON AIRS, WATERS, AND PLACES.

Athenæus, on the other hand, argues from the fact that ice is lighter than water, that water formed from ice must be light. Pliny gives a lucid statement of the opinions of those who held that water from ice is light and wholesome, and those who, like Hippocrates, held it to be just the reverse. He says in the words of Hippocrates, literally translated, “nec vero pauci inter ipsos e contrario ex gelu ac nivibus insaluberrimos potius prædicant, quoniam exactum sit inde, quod tenuissimum fuerit.” (H.N. xxxi., 21.) See also Seneca, Quæst. Natural. iv. It would appear that iced liqueurs were greatly relished at the tables of gourmands in those days. I need scarcely remark that there has been great difference of opinion in modern times regarding the qualities of water from melted snow and ice. It was at one time generally believed that it is the cause of the goîtres to which the inhabitants of the valleys bordering on the Alps are subject. This opinion, however, is by no means generally held at the present time.