a place in the peak of Derbyshire, celebrated for medicinal waters, the hottest in England, next to Bath, lying in W. Long. 0. 20. N. Lat. 53. 30.

It has been always believed by our antiquaries, that the Romans were acquainted with these wells, and had frequented them much, as there is a military way still visible, called the Bath-gate, from Burgh to this place. This was verified about 50 years ago, when Sir Thomas Delves, of Cheshire, in memory of a cure he received here, caused an arch to be erected; in digging the foundations for which, they came to the remains of a solid and magnificent structure of Roman workmanship; and in other places of the neighbourhood, very capacious leaden vessels, and other utensils, of Roman workmanship, have been discovered. These waters have always been reckoned inferior to those in Somersetshire; but seem never to have been totally diffused. They are mentioned by Leland, as well known 200 years ago; but it is certain they were brought into greater credit by Dr Jones in 1772, and by George earl of Shrewsbury, who erected a building over the bath, then composed of nine springs. This building was afterwards pulled down, and a more commodious one erected at the expense of the earl of Devonshire. In doing this, however, the ancient register of cures drawn up by the bath-warden, or physician attending the baths, and subscribed by the hands of the parties, was lost.

The warm waters of Buxton are, the bath, consisting of nine springs, as already mentioned, St Ann's well, and St Peter's or Bingham well. St Ann's well rises at the distance of somewhat more than 32 yards northeast from the bath. It is chiefly supplied from a spring on the north side, out of a rock of black limestone or bastard marble. It formerly rose into a stone basin, shut up within an ancient Roman brick wall, a yard square within, a yard high on three sides, and open on the fourth. But, in 1799, Sir Thomas Delves, as already mentioned, erected an arch over it which still continues. It is 12 feet long, and as many broad, set round with stone steps on the inside. In the midst of this dome the water now springs up into a stone basin two feet square. St Peter's or Bingham well rises about 20 yards south-east of St Ann's. It is also called Leigh's well, from a memorable cure received from it by a gentleman of that name. It rises out of a black limestone, in a very dry ground; and is not so warm as St Anne's well.

This water is alterant and not evacuant. The use of it is to be begun by taking a pint in the forenoon; after which, the quantity is to be gradually enlarged. This water increases the vital heat; and is useful in the gout, rheumatism, dry asthma, convulsive disorders, indigestion, loss of appetite, contractions of the tendons, &c. Mr Percival informs us, that the water of St Anne's well contains calcareous earth, fulgurite alkali, and sal-salt, though in a very small proportion, a gallon of the water yielding only 23 or 24 grains of sediment. It strikes a slight green with syrup of violets, suffers no change from infusion of galls, from the fixed vegetable alkali, or from the mineral acids; it becomes milky with the volatile alkali, and with saccharum saturni; and lets fall a precipitate on the addition of a few drops of a solution of silver in the nitrous acid. The specific gravity of this water is precisely equal to that of rain-water when their temperatures are the same; but it weighs four grains in a pint lighter when first taken from the spring, owing to the superior degree of warmth it has at that time. The temperature of the bath is about 82° of Fahrenheit; that of St Ann's well, as it is a smaller body of water, and exposed to the open air, is somewhat less. The water is transparent, sparkling, and highly grateful to the palate. From some experiments which he made upon himself, the Doctor concludes, that the Buxton waters are of a very heating quality, and suggests the following cautions with regard to the use of them. Small quantities only should be drunk at once, and frequently repeated; the belly should be kept soluble with lenitive electuary, or any other mild purgative; and, at the beginning of the course, the patient may be directed to suffer the water to remain a few seconds in the glass before he swallows it; for this spring abounds with mephitic air, in which its stimulus, and indeed its efficacy, resides, and which is quickly dissipated by exposure to the air. From this property the Doctor supposed that this water might be easily converted into an useful chalybeate; and, at his desire, Mr Buxton an apothecary near the wells made the following experiment. "A quart bottle containing two drachms of iron filings was filled, by immersion, with the water of St Ann's well, corked and agitated briskly under the surface of the water. It was then suffered to remain in the well till the filings had subsided, when the water was carefully decanted into a half-pint glass. To this were added three drops of the tincture of galls, which immediately occasioned a deep purple colour; and the transparency was quickly restored by a few drops of the acid of vitriol, evident proofs that a solution of the iron was effected in a few minutes. The water also, without the galls, had a chalybeate taste, and left an agreeable aftertaste upon the palate."

This method of impregnating the Buxton water with iron, must increase its tonic powers, and in many cases improve its virtues. It is a common practice to join the use of a chalybeate spring in the neighbourhood of St Ann's well, with that of the Buxton water. But the superiority of this artificial mineral water must be apparent, if we consider its agreeable warmth, volatility, levity, and gratefulness to the palate. Buxton-bath is frequently employed as a temperate cold bath. For, as the heat of the water is 16 or 18 degrees below that of the human body, a gentle shock is produced on the first immersion, the heart and arteries are made to contract more powerfully, and the whole system is braced and invigorated. But this salutary operation must be greatly diminished, often, indeed, more than counterbalanced, by the relaxing vapours which copiously exhale from the bath to which the patients are exposed during the time of dressing and undressing.

June 12th 1772,

Buxton (Jedediah), a prodigy with respect to skill in numbers. His father, William Buxton, was school-master of the same parish, where he was born in 1704; yet Jedediah's education was so much neglected, that he was never taught to write; and with respect to any other knowledge but that of numbers, seemed always as ignorant as a boy of ten years of age. How he came first to know the relative proportions of numbers, and their progressive denominations, he did not remember; but to this he applied the whole force of his mind, and upon this his attention was constantly fixed, so that he frequently took no cognizance of external objects, and when he did it, it was only with respect to their numbers. If any space of time was mentioned, he would soon after say it was so many minutes; and if any distance of way, he would assign the number of hair's breadths, without any question being asked, or any calculation expected by the company. When he once understood a question, he began to work with amazing facility, after his own method, without the use of a pen, pencil, or chalk, or even understanding the common rules of arithmetic as taught in the schools. A gentleman asked him the following question: Suppose a field 423 yards long and 383 wide, what was the area? and in two minutes, by the gentleman's watch, he answered, 162,000 yards. He then asked him how many acres the above field measured? and in 11 minutes he answered, 33 acres, 1 rood, 35 perches, 20 yards and a quarter just. The gentleman then observed, that allowing the distance between London and York to be 204 miles, he would know how many times a coach-wheel turned round in that distance, allowing the wheel's circumference to be six yards? In thirteen minutes, he answered 59,840 times. The next proposition was, In a bin 346 inches long, 255 inches wide, and 94 inches deep, how many gallons liquid measure, and what corn would it hold? The answer was, 3,454,464 solid inches, or 1,768,568 half quarters of solid inches, making 12,249,872 gallons liquid measure, or 12,249 gallons, 3 quarts, and 34 and a half inches; or it will hold 191 quarters, 3 bushels, 3 quarters and a half quarter, and 34 inches and a half remainder. Again, suppose a canal was to be dug 426 feet long, 263 wide, and 2 feet and a half deep, how many cubic yards of earth are to be removed? After pausing a quarter of an hour, he answered, 10,373 yards 24 feet. He would stride over a piece of land or a field, and tell you the contents of it almost as exact as if you had measured it by the chain. In this manner he measured the whole lordship of Elmton, of some thousand acres, belonging to Sir John Rhodes, and brought him the contents, not only in acres, roods, and perches, but even in square inches. After this, for his own amusement, he reduced them into square hair-breaths, computing 48 to each side of the inch. His memory was so great, that while revolving a question, he could leave off, and resume the operation again where he left off the next morning, or at a week, a month, or at several months, and proceed regularly till it was completed. His memory would doubtless have been equally retentive with respect to other objects, if he had attended to other objects with equal diligence; but his perpetual application to figures pre- prevented the smallest acquisition of any other knowledge. He was sometimes asked, on his return from church, whether he remembered the text, or any part of the sermon; but it never appeared that he brought away one sentence; his mind, upon a closer examination, being found to have been buried, even during divine service, in its favourite operation, either dividing some time, or some space, into the smallest known parts, or resolving some question that had been given him as a test of his abilities.

This extraordinary person living in laborious poverty, his life was uniform and obscure. Time, with respect to him, changed nothing but his age; nor did the seasons vary his employment, except that in winter he used a flail, and in summer a ling-hook. In the year 1754, he came to London, where he was introduced to the royal society, who, in order to prove his abilities, asked him several questions in arithmetic, and he gave them such satisfaction, that they dismissed him with a handsome gratuity. In this visit to the metropolis the only object of his curiosity, except figures, was his desire to see the king and royal family; but they being just removed to Kensington, Jedediah was disappointed. During his residence in London, he was taken to see King Richard III. performed at Drury-lane playhouse; and it was expected, either that the novelty and the splendor of the show would have fixed him in astonishment, or kept his imagination in a continual hurry, or that his passions would, in some degree, have been touched by the power of action, if he had not perfectly understood the dialogue. But Jedediah's mind was employed in the playhouse, just as it was employed in every other place. During the dance, he fixed his attention upon the number of steps; he declared, after a fine piece of music, that the innumerable sounds produced by the instruments had perplexed him beyond measure; and he attended even to Mr. Garrick, only to count the words that he uttered, in which he said he perfectly succeeded. Jedediah returned to the place of his birth, where, if his enjoyments were few, his wishes did not seem to be more. He applied to his labour, by which he subsisted with cheerfulness; he regretted nothing that he left behind him in London; and it continued to be his opinion, that a slice of ruly bacon afforded the most delicious repast.