We take the opportunity of modifying ideas presented in Volume I, and responding to queries raised by reviewers and other commentators. 1. Street fountains. It was claimed in Volume I (p. 252) that the cutting back of the fac¸ade of I.10.1 to create space round the fountain was almost without parallel in the city: the only other places where we could point to similar sacrifices being made, either for fountains or for the distribution tanks and watertowers which were an integral part of the distribution system provided to feed them, were at the southern tip of Insula VI.1 and the south-east corner of VI.14. We suggested, therefore, that the owner or occupier of I.10.1, rather than being subject to an expropriation order, may have yielded the space voluntarily. It is certainly true that street fountains and water-towers were as far as possible sited to avoid impinging upon existing buildings, even though the installations in question almost invariably ended up both encroaching upon the sidewalk and projecting into the carriageway. In some cases, as at the northeast corner of VI.8, there was no great problem, because there was suficient space for pedestrians and wheeled trafic to get past without dificulty. In other places, the street was closed to vehicles, so the fountain could project freely into the carriageway or even stand wholly within it: such was the case at the north-west corner of VI.13, where the lack of ruts and a strategically placed bollard at the south end conform that the Vico del Labirinto was for pedestrians only. The western stretch of the Via dell’Abbondanza, between the forum and the Via Stabiana crossing, was at least partially closed to vehicles, but there was, in any case, no shortage of space for the fountains at the south-east corners of VII.9 and VII.14. At the north end of the Via delle Scuole, closed off by the forum colonnade, it was even possible to site a fountain in the middle of the road. In other cases, however, accommodating the fountain presented serious difficulties. At the south-east corner of VII.4, for instance, the fountain jutted into the street so far as to leave only a narrow gap for wheeled trafic to squeeze through, and ultimately the street was closed.
XXIII. An observation of the lights seen in the air, an Aurora Australis, on March 18. 1738-9. at London,
