numberless small springs. The purity of these waters is borrowed from
the silicious quality of the soil.

The largest spring of any class in the county is Big Spring, a
comparatively broad expanse of water of unsurpassed quality, bordering
the Leesburg and Point of Rocks turnpike, about two miles north of
Leesburg.

The springs, as has been stated, are generally small and very
numerous, and many of them are unfailing, though liable to be affected
by drought. In such cases, by absorption and evaporation, the small
streams are frequently exhausted before uniting and often render the
larger ones too light for manufacturing purposes. Nevertheless, water
power is abundant; the county's diversified elevation giving
considerable fall to its water courses, and many sites are occupied.


CLIMATE.

Because responsible statistical data is usually accorded unqualified
credence, it is without undue hesitation that the following bit of
astonishing information, gleaned from a reliable source, is here set
down as positive proof of the excellence of Loudoun's climate: "It
(Leesburg) is located in a section the healthiest in the world, as
proven by statistics which place the death rate at 8-1/2 per 1,000,
the very lowest in the table of mortality gathered from all parts of
the habitable globe."

The climate of Loudoun, like that of most other localities, is
governed mainly by the direction of the prevailing winds, and, to a