SPRINGS, or the natural fountains of water, take their rise from
reservoirs stored under ground. Water maintains a level, and hence the
height to which a spring will rise depends on that of the level from
which it is supplied. If the internal reservoir be on a hill, and the
spring should gush out in a valley, the water may rise to a considerable
height and form a natural fountain; but, on the other hand, if the
reservoir be at some depth below the surface, the water may never reach
the surface, and mechanical aid may be required to obtain it.
These internal reservoirs are in a great measure supplied by moisture
derived from rain, snow, mist, and dew. The atmospheric water enters the
earth through porous rocks, or by means of fissures, and continues to
sink until arrested in its progress by rocks, such as clay, which will
not permit the water to pass, or by faults which check it from
spreading. The waters will then gush forth as a spring, of greater or
less size, according to the supplies it may have received.