FOUNTAIN, or ARTIFICIAL FOUN TAIN, in hydraulics, a construction by which water is violently spouted or darted up; called in French a jet d'eau. There are various kinds of artificial fountains, but all formed by a pressure of one sort or another on the water, namely, either the pressure or weight of a head of water, or the pressure arising from the spring and elasticity of the air, etc. When these are formed by the pressure of a head of water, the fountain will spout up nearly to the same height as that head. In ancient Greece every principal town had public fountains or conduits, some of which were of handsome design and of beautiful execution. The most famous of these were at Megara, at Corinth (the Pirefie and the Lerna), in the sacred wood of 2Esculapius, at Epidaurus, and the two at Messina called Arisinoe and Clepsydra.
The ancient fondness for fountains still exists in Italy and the East. The French are celebrated for their fountains, but Italy, more particularly Rome, is still more so. The foun tains of Paris and of the Tuileries, of the orangery at Versailles, at Saint Cloud, and other places in the neighborhood, are splendid structures. The principal and most admired fountains at or near Rome are those in front of Saint Peter's, of the Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati, of the Termini, of Mount Janiculum, of the gardens of the Belvedere, in the Vatican, of the Villa Borghese, which has also in the audience chamber a splendid fountain of silver, five Roman palms in height, ornamented with superb vases and flowers; the fountains of Trevi, the three fountains of Saint Paul, of the Aqua Aeetosa, etc.
In the United States the ornamental type of fountain is the one in common use. Large display fountains were attractive features of the Centennial Exhibition, and at the Chicago World's Fair, Buffalo Pan-American Exposi tion and San Francisco Exposition. Among these was the Fountain of the Republic of Chicago, which was designed by MatMonnies, and at Buffalo were costly examples dedicated to Man, Nature, Progress, etc. In Central Park, New York; Fairmount Park, Philadelphia; Lincoln Park, Chicago; Golden Gate Park, San Francisco and other large parks, will be found numerous fountains of elaborate design. In all the larger cities drinking fountains for men and animals have been erected by individuals and local humane societies.