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Paris Manuscript F — 34

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Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, Paris

Come coll'acque correnti si debbe condurre il terren de' monti nelle valli padulose e farle fertile e sanare l'aria circunstante1.

Ramificazioni di canali, con:

n a - g e c - h f d - S b

Le ramificazioni de' canali che per alti colli saran per natural corso condotti, son quelle che colle lor mutazione portano li terreni d'essi colli alli bassi paduli, e quelli riempiano di terren e fannoli fertili.

a sia il fiume maestro che s'impadula in b f S. Sia adunque tirato il canale per l'altezza de' colli a c n e di quel sia lasciati cadere diversi rami2, e, dov'è tutto insieme, mutandolo in diversi lochi3; e così le sue ruine diriperanno il terreno, e dopo il lor corso lo scaricheranno nel basso padule; e così potrai tanto mutare la caduta4 di tutto il canale dovizioso d'acqua, che tu arai ragguagliato il terreno scoperto fori di tali paduli.

How, with running waters, the soil of the mountains should be carried down into the marshy valleys, and how to make them fertile and to heal the surrounding air.

Branchings of canals, with:

n a - g e c - h f d - S b

The branchings of canals that are led by their natural course over high hills are those which, by their shifting, carry the soils of those hills down to the low marshes, and fill them with soil and make them fertile.

Let a be the master river that turns to marsh at b f S. Let the canal therefore be drawn along the height of the hills a c n, and from it let various branches be dropped, and, where it runs all together, shift it from place to place; and so its washouts will tear away the soil, and after their course will discharge it into the low marsh; and thus you will be able to shift the fall of the whole water-rich canal so far that you will have levelled the ground laid bare outside such marshes.

Carrying mountain soil into marshes to reclaim the valleys

Branching hilltop canals that erode the hills and silt up the low marshes

Civil Engineering Hydraulics

Leonardo describes how running water can carry the soil of the mountains down into marshy valleys, making them fertile and purifying the surrounding air. A branching-canal diagram (labelled n a, g e c, h f d and S b) shows a master river a that silts up as a marsh at b f S. A canal led along the hilltops a c n drops branches whose washouts erode the hillsides and discharge the soil into the low marsh, so the whole water-rich system can be steered to level the reclaimed ground.

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Reclaiming marshy valleys with mountain soil

Running water should be used to carry the soil of the mountains down into the marshy valleys, making them fertile and healing the surrounding (unhealthy) air.

Branching hilltop canals that erode and deposit soil (a, c, n, b, f, S)

The master river a turns to marsh at b f S; a canal is drawn along the hilltops a c n and made to drop branches in various places, whose washouts tear away the hill soil and discharge it into the low marsh. By steering the fall of this water-rich canal, the reclaimed ground can be levelled.

Reader's Edition — described with AI from the e-Leo transcription.