FOUNTAIN
631
FOUNTAIN
suits, we think, contrary to the expectations of their founders ; and the general tendency of opinion, espe- cially in Protestant countries, is against their useful- ness as means for th.^ attainment of the desired ends. Granting that they ni;iy have some effect in diminish- ing the frequenc)' of direct infanticide (which, how- ever, their stitistics do not prove), they certainly tend to increase the number of children abandoned by their parents, while the frightful mortalitj' connected with them would seem to demonstrate that there can be no actual saving of hunitn life through such establish- ments. We believe that vastly more children have prematurely died from causes inseparably connected with tiu'ir transmission to and treatment in these hos- pitals than would have been destroyed outright by the parents from the same motives. Statistics seem clearly to show that they tend to foster licentiousness, increase the number of illegitimate births, and relax morals. In reviewing all the facts, the language of the author of the article Medical Jurisprudence, in the Ennjc'op. Bri/nunica, xiv, 444, 8th ed.), seems hardly too strong: "Foundling hospitals, from the mortalitj' in them, even under the best management, seem to be amongst the most pestilent institutions of mistaken benevolence." — iVew Amer. Cyclop, vii, 634-G40 ; Beck- mann, Historij of Inventions, ii, 434-449 (Bohn's ed.) ; Cassel's Magazine, i, 123-4; Knight, Popular History of England , vii, 118-19 ; Chambers, Enryvlop(edia, s. v. ; Encyclop. Britannica, s. v. ; Gnerry, Statistiqne Morale de la France ; Benoiston de Chateauneuf, Considera- tions sur k's Enfans-trouves dans les principaux Mats de V Europe. (J.W. M.)
Fountain, the rendering in the A. V'. of the fol- lowing Hebrew terms: 1. Properly' and usuallj' '\^'t.^ a yin (lit. the eye), so called from Jlowing (Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 1017), a natural source of living water. See En-. 2. Likewise "i"^""?, mayan (from the same root), a well-watered place (Psa. Ixxxiv, 6, "well"); also a single spring (as rendered in Psa. Ixxxvii, 7 ; civ, 10) of running water (Lev. xi, 30; Josh, xv, 9; 1 Kings xviii, 5; 2 Chron. xxxii, 4; Psa. Ixxiv, 15; cxiv, 8; Prov. V, 16; viii, 24; xxv, 26; Cant, iv, 12, 15 ; Isa. xli, 18 ; Hos. xiii, 15 ; Joel iii, 18) ; spoken of the tide or influx of the sea (Gen. vii, 11 ; viii, 2). Its force and meaning are unfortunately sometimes obscured bv the rendering in the A.V., "well," as in Exod. XV, 27 ; in Elim " were twelve trells of water ;" that is, not artificial wells, but natural fimnfains, as still seen in wady Ghurundel (Bartlett's Forty Bays in the Be.icrt, p. 43). These two woi'ds, on the con- trary, like tlie corresponding Greek T>i]y!], alwa^-s denote a stream of " living" or constantly-running water, in opposition to standing or stagnant pools, whether it issues immediately from the ground or from the bottom of a well. See Ain. 3. "'S"?, mahhu'a (so called from gushing or bubbling forth), a native rill (fig. of the vitil flow, Eccl. xii, 6; elsewhere liter- ally a "spring" in general, Isa. xxxv, 7 ; xlix, 10). 4. ^"lp"9. makor' (so called from having been opened ^y '%.7'"^)' an artificial source of flowing water, used both literally and figurativeh', but mostly in such phrases as "fountain of life" (Prov. xiii, 14), "foun- tain of wisdom" (xviii, 4), etc. ; occasionally rendered "spring," "well," etc. 5. Improperlj^ ~ii3, bor, or ^^3, ba'yir (Jer. vi, 7), which designates only a. pit or standing water. See Well. The idea of a fountain is also implied in the phrase C^^ Slii'S, motsa' ma'- yim, m going farth of waters ("spring," 2 Kings ii, 21 ; Psa. cvii, 33, 35; Isa. xli, 18; Iviii, 11; "course," 2 Chron. xxxii, 30) ; as likewise in b|, gal (from its roll- ing down the water), or ilSJ, gullah' , a purling stream or overflowing fountain ("spring," Cant, iv, 12 ; Josh. XV, 19 ; Judg. i, 15). See TopoGRArmcAL Terms.
Among tiie attractive features presented by the
Land of Promise to the nation migrating from Egypt b)' way of the desert, none would be more striking tliLin the natural gush of waters from the ground. In- stead of watering his field or garden, as in Egypt, " witli his foot" (Shaw, Travels, p. 408), the Hebrew- cultivator was taught to look forward to a land "drink- ing water of the rain of heaven, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths springing from valleys and hills" (Deut. viii, 7; xi, 11). In the desert of Sinai, "the few living, perhaps perennial springs," b}' the fact of their rarity, assume an importance liard- h' to be understood in moister climates, and more than justifj' a poetical expression of national rejoicing over the discovery of one (Numb, xxi, 17). But the springs of Palestine, though short-lived, are remarkable for their abundance and beaut}', especially those which fall into the Jordan and its lakes throughout its whole course (Stanlej^, Palest, p. 17, 122, 123, 295, 373, 509 ; Burckhardt, Syria, p. 344). The spring or fountain of living water, the " eye" of the landscape (see No. 1), is distinguished in all Oriental languages from the ar- tificiall}' sunk and enclosed well (Stanlej', p. 509). Its importance is implied bj' the number of topographical names compounded with En or (Arab.) Ain: En-gedi, Ain-jidy, " spring of the gazelle," may serve as a strik- ing instance (1 Sam. xxiii, 29 ; see Peland, p. 7G3 ; Robinson, i, 504; Stanley-, App. § 50). Fountains are much more rare on the eastern side of the Jordan than on the western. There are a few among the moun- tains of Gilead ; but in the great plateaus of IMoab on the south, and Bashan on the north, thej' are almost unknown. This arises in part from the physical struc- ture of the country, and in part from the dryness of the climate. Huge cisterns and tanks were construct- ed to supply the want of fountains. See Cistern. Some of the fountains of Palestine are of great size. All the perennial rivers and streams in the countr}' have their sources in fountains, and draw couipara- tivelj' little strength from surface water. Such are the fountains of the Jordan at Dan and Banias ; of the Abana at Fijeh and Zebedany ; of the Leontes at Chal- cis and Baalbek ; of the Orontes at Ain and Lebweh ; of the Adonis at Afka, etc. Palestine is a country of mountains and hills, and it abounds in fountains of lesser note. The murmur of their waters is heard in everj' dell, and the luxuriant foliage which surrounds them is seen on everj^ plain. For a good classifioa- tion of these natural springs, see Robinson's Physical Geog. of PaUsiine, p. 238 sq. ; and for descriptions of man}' of them, see Tristram's Land of Israel, and Sepp's Heilige Land.