in natural history, a deep pit underground, from whence various kinds of minerals are dug out; but the term is more particularly applied to those which yield metals. Where stones only are procured, the appellation of quarries is universally bestowed upon the places from which they are dug out, however deep they may be.
The internal parts of the earth, as far as they have been yet investigated, do not consist of one uniform substance, but of various strata or beds of substances, extremely different in their appearances, specific gravities, and chemical qualities, from one another. Neither are these strata similar to one another either in their nature or appearance in different countries; so that even in the short extent of half a mile, the strata will be found quite different from what they are in another place. As little are they the same either in depth or solidity. Innumerable cracks and fissures, by the miners called lodes, are found in every one of them; but these are so entirely different in size and shape, that it is impossible to form any inference from their size in one place to that in another. In these lodes or fissures the metallic ore is met with; and, considering the great uncertainty of the dimensions of the lodes, it is evident that the benefits of mining, which depends on that size, must in like manner be quite uncertain and precarious. Mr Price, in his treatise on the Cornish mines, observes that "the comparative smallness of the largest fissures to the bulk of the whole earth is really wonderful. In the finest pottery we can make, by a microscopic view, we may discover numerous cracks and fissures, so small as to be imperceptible by any fluid, and impervious to the naked eye;" as, by the laws of nature originally imposed by the Creator, it happens that matter cannot contract itself into solid large masses, without leaving fissures between them, and yet the very fissures are as necessary. necessary and useful as the strata through which they pass. They are the drains that carry off the redundant moisture from the earth; which, but for them, would be too full of fens and bogs for animals to live or plants to thrive on. In these fissures, the several ingredients which form lodes, by the continual passing of waters, and the menitria of metals, are brought out of the adjacent strata, collected and conveniently lodged in a narrow channel, much to the advantage of those who search for and pursue them; for if metals and minerals were more dispersed, and scattered thinly in the body of the strata, the trouble of finding and getting at them would be endless, and the expense of procuring them exceed the value of the acquisition.
The infides of the fissures are commonly coated over with a hard, crystalline, earthy substance or rind, which very often, in the breaking of hard ore, comes off along with it, and is commonly called the caps or walls of the lode; but Mr Price is of opinion, that the proper walls of the lode are the sides of the fissure itself, and not the coat just mentioned, which is the natural platter upon those walls, furnished perhaps by the contents of the fissures, or from oozings of the surrounding strata.
The breadth of a lode is easily known by the distance betwixt the two incrustated sides of the stones of ore; and if a lode yields any kind of ore, it is a better sign that the walls be regular and smooth, or at least that one of them be so, than otherwise; but there are not many of these fissures which have regular walls until they have been sunk down some fathoms.
Thus the inner part of the fissure in which the ore lies, is all the way bounded by two walls of stone, which are generally parallel to one another, and include the breadth of the vein or lode. Whatever angle of inclination some fissures make in the solid strata at their beginnings, they generally continue to do the same all along. Some are very uncertain in their breadth, as they may be small at their upper part and wide underneath, and vice versa. Their regular breadth, as well as their depth, is subject to great variation; for though a fissure may be many fathoms wide in one particular place, yet a little further east or west it may not perhaps be one inch wide. This excessive variation happens generally in very compact strata, when the vein or fissure is squeezed, as it were, through hard rocks which seem to compress and straiten it. A true vein or fissure, however, is never entirely obliterated, but always shows a string of metallic ore or of a veiny substance; which often serves as a leader for the miners to follow until it sometimes leads them to a large and richly impregnated part. Their length is in a great measure unlimited, though not the space best fitted for yielding metal. The richest flate for copper, according to Mr Price, is from 40 to 80 fathoms deep; for tin, from 20 to 60; and though a great quantity of either may be raised at 80 or 100 fathoms, yet "the quality (says our author) is often too much decayed and dry for metal."
Mr Price informs us, that the fissures or veins of the Cornish mines extend from east to west; or, more properly, one end of the fissure points west and by south, or west and by north; while the other tends east and by south, or east and by north. Thus they frequently pass through a considerable tract of country with very few variations in their directions, unless they be interrupted by some intervening cause.—But, besides this east and west direction, we are to consider what the miners call the underlying or hade of the vein or lode; viz. the deflection or deviation of the fissure from its perpendicular line, as it is followed in depth like the slope of the roof of a house, or the descent of the steep side of a hill. This slope is generally to the north or south; but varies much in different veins, or sometimes even in the same vein: for it will frequently slope or underlie a small space in different ways, as it may appear to be forced by hard strata on either side.—Some of the fissures do not vary much from a perpendicular, while some deviate more than a fathom; that is, for every fathom they descend in perpendicular height, they deviate likewise as much to the south or north. Others differ so much from the perpendicular, that they assume a position almost horizontal; whence they are also called horizontal or flat lodes, and sometimes lode plots. Another kind of these has an irregular position with regard to the rest; widening horizontally for a little way, and then defending perpendicularly almost like stairs, with only a small string or leader to follow after; and thus they alternately vary and yield ore in several flat or horizontal fissures. This, by the Cornish tinniers, is called (but in Mr Price's opinion erroneously) a floor or squat; which, properly speaking, is a hole or chasm impregnated with metal, making no continued line of direction or regular walls. Neither does a floor of ore descend to any considerable depth; for underneath it there appears no sign of a vein or fissure, either leading directly down or any other way. This kind of vein is very rare in Britain. The fissures most common in Britain are the perpendicular and inclined, whether their direction be north or south, east or west.
The perpendicular and horizontal fissures (according to our author) probably remain little altered from their first position, when they were formed at the inundation of the strata immediately after the waters left the land. The perpendicular fissures are found more commonly situated in level ground, at a distance from hills, and from the sea-shore; but with regard to the latter, we find that the upper and under masses of strata differ in their solidity and other properties. "Hence, (says our author) it is very plain, that inclined fissures owe their deflection or underlie to some secondary cause, violence, or subsidence of the earth: for though perpendicular fissures are seldom to be seen, yet such as are inclined at very considerable depths, become more and more perpendicular as the more central strata, by reason of the vast superincumbent weight, do not seem so likely to be driven out of their position as those which lie nearer the surface."
The fissures are often met with fractured as well as inclined; the reason of which, in Mr Price's opinion, has been a subsidence of the earth from some extraordinary cause. "The original position (says he) must have been horizontal, or parallel to the surface of the earth: but we often find these strata very sensibly declined from that first position; nay, sometimes..." times quite reversed, and changed into perpendicular.
When we see a wall lean, we immediately conclude that the foundation has given way, according to the angles which the wall makes with the horizon; and when we find the like declination in strata, we may conclude, by parity of reason, that there has been a like failure of what supported them, in proportion to that declination; or that whatever made the strata to fall so much awry, must also cause every thing included in those strata to fall proportionably. Wherever the greatest subsidence is to the north, the top of the lode or fissure will point to the north, and of consequence underlie to the south, and vice versa: the slide or heave of the lode manifests the greater subsidence of the strata; but the same lode is frequently fractured and heaved in several places: all of which, by due observation, will show us they were occasioned by so many several shocks or subsidencies, and that the strata were not unfooted, shaken, or brought to fall once only or twice, but several times."
Mr Price, in the course of his work, observes, that though the metallic veins generally run from east to west, they are frequently intersected by veins or lodes, as he calls them, of other matters, which run from north to south. Some of these cross veins contain lead or antimony, but never tin or copper. Sometimes one of these unmetallic veins intersects the true one at right angles, sometimes obliquely; and sometimes the mixture of both is so intimate, that the most expert miners are at a loss to discover the separated part of the true vein. When this last is intercepted at right angles, it is moved, either north or south, a very little way, perhaps not more than one fathom; in which case, the miners having worked to a small distance in one of these directions, if they find themselves disappointed, turn to the other hand, and seldom fail of meeting with what they expected. Sometimes they are directed in their search by the pointing of a rib or string of the true vein; but when the interruption happens in an oblique direction, the difficulty of finding the vein again is much greater.
When two metallic veins in the neighbourhood of each other run in an oblique direction, and of consequence meet together, they commonly produce a body of ore at the place where they intersect; and if both are rich, the quantity will be considerable; but if one be poor and the other rich, then both are either enriched or impoverished by the meeting. After some time they separate again, and each will continue its former direction near to the other; but sometimes, though rarely, they continue united.
It is a sign of a poor vein when it separates or diverges into strings; but, on the contrary, when several of them are found running into one, it is accounted a promising sign. Sometimes there are branches without the walls of the vein in the adjacent strata, which often come either obliquely or transversely into it. If these branches are impregnated with ore, or if they underlie faster than the true vein, that is, if they dip deeper into the ground, then they are said to overtake or come into the lode, and to enrich it; or if they do not, then they are said to go off from it, and to impoverish it. But neither these nor any other marks either of the richness or poverty of a mine are to be entirely depended upon; for many mines, which have a very bad appearance at first, do nevertheless turn out extremely well afterwards; while others, which in the beginning seemed very rich, turn gradually worse and worse: but in general, where a vein has a bad appearance at first, it will be imprudent to be at much expense with it.
Veins of metal, as has been already observed, are frequently, as it were, so compressed between hard strata, that they are not an inch wide; nevertheless, if they have a string of good ore, it will generally be worth while to pursue them; and they frequently turn out well at last, after they have come into softer ground. In like manner, it is an encouragement to go on if the branches or leaders of ore enlarge either in width or depth as they are worked; but it is a bad sign if they continue horizontal without inclining downwards; though it is not proper always to discontinue the working of a vein which has an unfavourable aspect at first. Veins of tin are worth working when only three inches wide, provided the ore be good; and copper ores when six inches wide will pay very well for the working. Some of the great mines, however, have very large veins, with a number of other small ones very near each other. There are also veins crossing one another sometimes met with, which are called contras, vulgarly counters. Sometimes two veins run down into the ground in such a manner that they meet in the direction of their depth; in which case, the same observations apply to them which are applicable to those that meet in an horizontal direction. Sometimes a vein will suddenly disappear without giving any warning, by becoming narrower, or of worse quality; which by the miners is called a start or leap, and is very common in the mines of Cornwall. In one day's time they may thus be disappointed in the working of a rich vein of tin, and have no further sign of anything to work upon: at the fractured extremity of their vein they perceive a body of clay or other matter; and the method of recovering their vein is to drive on their work in the direction of the former part, so that their new work shall make the same angle with the clay that the other part of the vein does. Sometimes they sink a shaft down from the surface; but it is generally a matter of difficulty to recover a vein when thus lost.
The method of discovering mines is a matter of so much difficulty, that it seems surprising how those who were totally unacquainted with the nature of metals first came to think of digging them out of the earth. According to Lucretius, the discovery was made by the conflagration of certain woods, which melted the veins of metal in the earth beneath them; but this seems to be rather improbable. Aristotle, however, is of the same opinion with Lucretius, and tells us, that some shepherds in Spain having set fire to the woods, the earth was thus heated to such a degree, that the silver near the surface of it melted and flowed into a mass; and that in a short time the metallic mass was discovered by the rending of the earth in the time of an earthquake: and the same story is told by Strabo, who ascribes the discovery of the mines of Andalusia to this accident. Cadmus is said by some to have been the first who discovered gold; while others ascribe this to Thoas the Thracian, to Mercury the son of Jupiter, or to Pius king of of Italy; who having left his own country, went into Egypt, where he was elected king after the death of Mizraim the son of Ham; and, on account of his discovery, was called the Golden God. Others say, that Earlis or Cæacus the son of Jupiter, or Sol the son of Oceanus, was the first discoverer; but Æschylus attributes the discovery not only of gold, but of all other metals, to Prometheus. The brass and copper mines in Cyprus were first discovered by Cinyra the son of Agryops; and Hesiod ascribes the discovery of the iron mines of Crete to the Cretan Daftly Idei. The extraction of lead or tin from its ore in the island of Cassiteris, according to several ancient authors, was discovered by Midacritus.—The scripture, however, ascribes the invention of brass and iron, or at least of the methods of working them, to Tubal Cain before the flood.
In more modern times, we know that mines have been frequently discovered by accident; as in sea-cliffs, among broken craggy rocks, by the washing of the tides or floods, also by irrigations and torrents of water issuing out of hills and mountains, and sometimes by the wearing of high roads. Mr Price mentions another way by which mines have been discovered, viz., by fiery eruptions; which, he says, he has heard from persons whose veracity he is unwilling to question. "The tanners (says he) generally compare these effluvia to blazing stars or other whimsical likenesses, as their fears or hopes suggest; and search with uncommon eagerness the ground over which these jack-a-lanterns have appeared and pointed out. We have heard but little of these phenomena for many years; whether it be, that the present age is less credulous than the foregoing, or that the ground, being more perforated by innumerable new pits sunk every year, some of which, by the stannary laws, are prevented from being filled up, has given these vapours a more gradual vent, it is not necessary to inquire, as the fact itself is not generally believed."
Mines, however, are now most commonly discovered by investigating the nature of such veins, ores, and stones, as may seem most likely to turn to account; but there is a particular sagacity, or habit of judging from particular signs, which can be acquired only by long practice. Mines, especially those of copper, may also be discovered by the harsh and disagreeable taste of the waters which issue from them; though it is probable that this only happens when the ore lies above the level of the water which breaks out; for it does not seem likely that the taste of the ore could affect, unless we were to suppose a pond or lake of water standing above it. The presence of copper in any water is easily discovered by immersing in it a bit of polished iron, which will thus instantly be turned of a copper colour, by reason of the precipitation of the metal upon it. A candle, or piece of tallow put into water of this kind, will in a short time be tinged of a green colour.
Another and still more remarkable method of discovering mines is said to be by the virgula divinatoria, or "divining rod;" which, however incredible the stories related concerning it may be, is still relied on by some, and among others by Mr Price. It is not known who was the inventor of this method; but Agricola supposes that it took its rise from the magicians, who pretended to discover mines by enchantment. No mention is made of it, however, before the 11th century, since which time it has been in frequent use; and the Corpuscular Philosophy has even been called in to account for it. But before we pretend to account for phenomena so very extraordinary as those reported of the virgula divinatoria, it is necessary, in the first place, to determine whether or not they exist. Mr Price, as has been already hinted, believes in it, though he owns that by reason of his constitution of mind and body he is almost incapable of co-operating with its influence. The following account, however, he gives from Mr William Cookworthy of Plymouth, a gentleman of known veracity and great chemical abilities.
He had the first information concerning this rod from one Captain Ribeira, who deserted from the Spanish service in Queen Anne's reign, and became captain-commandant in the garrison of Plymouth; in which town he satisfied several intelligent persons of the virtues of the rod, by many experiments on pieces of metal hid in the earth, and by an actual discovery of a copper mine near Oakhampton, which was wrought for some years. This captain very readily showed the method of using the rod in general, but would not by any means discover the secret of distinguishing the different metals by it; though, by a constant attention to his practice, Mr Cookworthy discovered it. Captain Ribeira was of opinion, that the only proper rods for this purpose were those cut from the nut or fruit-trees; and that the virtue was confined to certain persons, and those, comparatively speaking, but few; but Mr Price says, that the virtue resides in all persons and in all rods under certain circumstances. "The rod (says he) is attracted by all the metals, by coals, limestone, and springs of water, in the following order: 1. Gold; 2. Copper; 3. Iron; 4. Silver; 5. Tin; 6. Lead; 7. Coals; 8. Limestone and springs of water. One method of determining the different attractions of the rod is this: Stand, holding the rod with one foot advanced; put a guinea under that foot, and a halfpenny under the other, and the rod will be drawn down; shift the pieces of money, and the rod will be drawn towards the face, or backwards to the gold, which proves the gold to have the stronger attraction.
"The rods formerly used were shoots of one year's growth that grew forked; but it is found, that two separate shoots tied together with packthread or other vegetable substance answer rather better than such as are naturally forked, as the shoots of the latter are seldom of an equal size. They are to be tied together by the greater ends, the small ones being held in the hands. Hazle rods cut in the winter, such as are used for fishing rods, and kept till they are dry, do best; though, where these are not at hand, apple-tree suckers, rods from peach-trees, currants, or the oak, though green, will answer tolerably well."
Our author next proceeds to describe the manner of holding the rod; of which he gives a figure, as he says it is difficult to be described. The small ends being crooked, are to be held in the hands in a position flat or parallel to the horizon, and the upper part in an elevation not perpendicular to it, but at an angle of about 70 degrees. "The rod (says he) being pro- perly held by those with whom it will answer, when the toe of the right foot is within the semidiameter of the piece of metal or other subject of the rod, it will be repelled towards the face, and continue to be so while the foot is kept from touching or being directly over the subject; in which case it will be sensibly and strongly attracted, and be drawn quite down. The rod should be firmly and steadily grasped; for if, when it has begun to be attracted, there be the least imaginable jerk or opposition to its attraction, it will not move any more till the hands are opened, and a fresh grasp taken. The stronger the grasp the livelier the rod moves, provided the grasp be steady and of an equal strength. This observation is very necessary; as the operation of the rod in many hands is defeated purely by a jerk or counteraction: and it is from thence concluded, that there is no real efficacy in the rod, or that the person who holds it wants the virtue: whereas, by a proper attention to this circumstance in using it, five persons in six have the virtue, as it is called; that is, the nut or fruit-bearing rod will answer in their hands. If a rod, or the least piece of one of the nut-bearing or fruit kind, be put under the arm, it will totally destroy the operation of the virgula divinatoria, in regard to all the subjects of it, except water, in those hands in which the rod naturally operates. If the least animal thread, as silk, or worsted, or hair, be tied round or fixed on the top of the rod, it will in like manner hinder its operation; but the same rod placed under the arm, or the same animal substances tied round or fixed on the top of the rod, will make it work in those hands, in which without these additions it is not attracted.
Such are the accounts of this extraordinary rod, to which it is probable that few will attend; and we believe the instances of mines having been discovered by it are but very rare. Another and very ancient mode of discovering mines, less uncertain than the divining rod, but extremely difficult and precarious, is that called flooding; that is, tracing them by loose stones, fragments, or floes, which may have been separated and carried off to a considerable distance from the vein, and are found by chance in running waters, on the superficies of the ground, or a little under.
"When the tanners (says Mr Price) meet with a loose single stone of tin ore, either in a valley or in ploughing or hedging, though at 100 fathoms distance from the vein it came from, those who are accustomed to this work will not fail to find it out. They consider, that a metallic stone must originally have appertained to some vein, from which it was fevered and cast at a distance by some violent means. The deluge, they suppose, moved most of the loose earthy coat of the globe, and in many places washed it off from the upper towards the lower grounds, with such a force, that most of the backs or lodes of veins which protruded themselves above the salt were hurried downwards with the common mass: whence the skill in this part of their business lies much in directing their measures according to the situation of the surface." Afterwards, however, our author complains, that this art of flooding, as he calls it, is in a great measure lost.
The following account of a method of finding silver mines by Alonzo Barba seems to be similar to that of flooding just now mentioned. "The veins of metal (says he) are sometimes found by great stones above Mine ground; and if the veins be covered, they hunt them out after this manner; viz. taking in their hands a fort of mattock, which has a steel point at one end to dig with, and a blunt head at the other wherewith to break stones, they go to the hollows of the mountains, where the current of rain water descends, or to some other part of the skirts of the mountains, and there observe what stones they meet with, breaking in pieces those that seem to have any metal in them; whereof they find many times both middling sort of stones and small ones also of metal. Then they consider the situation of that place, and whence these stones can tumble, which of necessity must be from higher ground, and follow the tract of them up the hill as long as they can find any of them," &c.
"Another way (says Mr Price) of discovering lodes is by working drifts across the country, as we call it, that is, from north to south, and vice versa. I tried the experiment in an adventure under my management, where I drove all open at grafts about two feet in the shelf, very much like a level to convey water upon a mill wheel: by so doing I was sure of cutting all lodes in my way; and did accordingly discover five courses, one of which has produced above 180 tons of copper ore, but the others were never wrought upon. This method of discovering lodes is equally cheap and certain; for 100 fathoms in shallow ground may be driven at 50s. expense."
In that kind of ground called by our author fathomable, and which he explains by the phrase tender-standing, he tells us, that "a very effectual, proving, and consequential way is, by driving an adit from the lowest ground, either north or south; whereby there is a certainty to cut all lodes at 20, 30, or 40 fathoms deep, if the level admits of it. In driving adits or levels across, north or south, to unwater mines already found, there are many fresh veins discovered, which frequently prove better than those they were driving to."
After the mine is found, the next thing to be considered is, whether it may be dug to advantage. In order to determine this, we are duly to weigh the nature of the place, and its situation, as to wood, water, carriage, healthiness, and the like; and compare the result with the richness of the ore, the charge of digging, stamping, washing, and smelting.
Particularly the form and situation of the spot should be well considered. A mine must either happen, 1. In a mountain; 2. In a hill; 3. In a valley; or, 4. In a flat. But mountains and hills are dug with much greater ease and convenience, chiefly because the drains and burrows, that is, the adits or avenues, may be here readily cut, both to drain the water and to form gang-ways for bringing out the lead, &c. In all the four cases, we are to look out for the veins which the rains or other accidental thing may have laid bare; and if such a vein be found, it may often be proper to open the mine at that place, especially if the vein prove tolerably large and rich: otherwise the most commodious place for situation is to be chosen for the purpose, viz. neither on a flat, nor on the tops of mountains, but on the sides. The best situation for a mine, is a mountainous, woody, wholesome spot; of a safe easy ascent, and bordering on a navigable river. The places abounding with mines are generally healthy, as standing high, and every where exposed to the air; yet some places where mines are found prove poisonous, and can upon no account be dug, though ever so rich: the way of examining a suspected place of this kind, is to make experiments upon brutes, by exposing them to the effluvia or exhalations to find the effects.
Devonshire and Cornwall, where there are a great many mines of copper and tin, is a very mountainous country, which gives an opportunity in many places to make adits or subterraneous drains to some valley at a distance, by which to carry off the water from the mine, which otherwise would drown them out from getting the ore. These adits are sometimes carried a mile or two, and dug at a vast expense, as from 2000l. to 4000l. especially where the ground is rocky; and yet they find this cheaper than to draw up the water out of the mine quite to the top, when the water runs in plenty and the mine is deep. Sometimes, indeed, they cannot find a level near enough to which an adit may be carried from the very bottom of the mine; yet they find it worth while to make an adit half the height to which the water is to be raised, thereby saving half the expense.
The late Mr Coffin, considering that sometimes from small streams, and sometimes from little springs or collections of rain-water, one might have a good deal of water above ground, though not a sufficient quantity to turn an overshot-wheel, thought, that if a sufficient fall might be had, this collection of water might be made useful in raising the water in a mine to the adit, where it may be carried off.
But now the most general method of draining mines is by the steam-engine. See Steam-Engine.
the military art, denotes a subterraneous canal or passage, dug under the wall or rampart of a fortification, intended to be blown up by gunpowder.
The alley or passage of a mine is commonly about four feet square; at the end of this is the chamber of the mine, which is a cavity of about five feet in width and in length, and about six feet in height; and here the gunpowder is stored. The faucisse of the mine is the train, for which there is always a little aperture left.
Two ounces of powder have been found, by experiment, capable of raising two cubic feet of earth; consequently 200 ounces, that is, 12 pound 8 ounces, will raise 200 cubic feet, which is only 16 feet short of a cubic toise, because 200 ounces joined together have proportionally a greater force than 2 ounces, as being an united force.
All the turnings a miner uses to carry on his mines, and through which he conducts the faucisse, should be well filled with earth and dung; and the masonry in proportion to the earth to be blown up, as 3 to 2. The entrance of the chamber of the mine ought to be firmly shut with thick planks, in the form of a St Andrew's cross, so that the inclosure be secure, and the void spaces shut up with dung or tempered earth. If a gallery be made below or on the side of the chamber, it must absolutely be filled up with the strongest masonry, half as long again as the height of the earth; for this gallery will not only bulk, but likewise obstruct the effect of the mine. The powder should always be kept in sacks, which are opened when the mine is charged, and some of the powder strewed about: the greater the quantity of earth to be raised is, the greater is the effect of the mine, supposing it to have the due proportion of powder. Powder has the same effect upon masonry as upon earth, that is, it will proportionably raise either with the same velocity.
The branches which are carried into the solidity of walls do not exceed three feet in depth, and two feet six inches in width nearly: this sort of mine is most excellent to blow up the strongest walls.
The weight of a cubic foot of powder should be 80 lb. 1 foot 1 inch cube will weigh 100 lb. and 1 foot 2 inches and 1/2, 150 lb. and 200 lb. of powder will be 1 foot 5 inches cube; however, there is a diversity in this, according to the quantity of saltpetre in the gunpowder.
If, when the mines are made, water be found at the bottom of the chamber, planks are laid there, on which the powder is placed either in sacks or barrels of 100 lb. each. The faucisse must have a clear passage to the powder, and be laid in an auger or wooden trough, through all the branches. When the powder is placed in the chamber, the planks are laid to cover it, and others again across these; then one is placed over the top of the chamber, which is shaped for that purpose: between that and those which cover the powder, props are placed, which shore it up; some inclining towards the outside, others to the inside of the wall; all the void spaces being filled with earth, dung, brick, and rough stones. Afterwards planks are placed at the entrance of the chamber, with one across the top, whereon they buttress three strong props, whose other ends are likewise propped against another plank situated on the side of the earth in the branch; which props being well fixed between the planks with wedges, the branch should then be filled up to its entrance with the aforementioned materials. The faucisses which pass through the side branches must be exactly the same length with that in the middle, to which they join: the part which reaches beyond the entrance of the mine is that which conveys the fire to the other three; the faucisses being of equal length, will spring together.
From a great number of experiments, it appears,
1. That the force of a mine is always towards the weakest tide; so that the disposition of the chamber of a mine does not at all contribute to determine this effect. 2. That the quantity of powder must be greater or less, in proportion to the greater or less weight of the bodies to be raised, and to their greater or less cohesion; so that you are to allow for each cubic fathom
| Of loose earth, | 9 or 10 lb. | |----------------|-------------| | Firm earth and strong sand, | 11 or 12 | | Flat clayey earth, | 15 or 16 | | New masonry, not strongly bound, | 15 or 20 | | Old masonry, well bound, | 25 or 30 |
3. That the aperture, or entonnoir of a mine, if rightly charged, is a cone, the diameter of whose base is double the height taken from the centre of the mine. 4. That when the mine has been overcharged, its entonnoir is nearly cylindrical, the diameter of the upper extreme... Mineral waters, properly so called, are those in which gas, or sulphureous, saline, or metallic substances, are discovered by chemical trials. As many of these waters are employed successfully in medicine, they are also called medicinal waters.
Mineral waters receive their peculiar principles by passing through earths containing salts, or pyritous substances that are in a state of decomposition. Some of these waters are valuable from the quantity of useful salts which they contain, particularly of common salt; great quantities of which are obtained from these waters; and others are chiefly valued for their medicinal qualities. The former kind of mineral waters is an object of manufacture, and from them is chiefly extracted that salt only which is most valuable in commerce. See Salt.
Many of these waters have been accurately analyzed by able chemists and physicians. But notwithstanding these attempts, we are far from having all the certainty and knowledge that might be desired on this important subject; for this kind of analysis is perhaps the most difficult of any in chemistry.—Almost all mineral waters contain several different substances, which being united with water may form with each other numberless compounds. Frequently some of the principles of mineral waters are in so small quantity, that they can scarcely be perceived; although they may have some influence on the virtues of the water, and also on the other principles contained in the water.—The chemical operations used in the analysis of mineral waters, may sometimes occasion essential changes in the substances that are to be discovered. And also, these waters are capable of suffering very considerable changes by motion, by rest, and by exposure to air.
Probably also the variations of the atmosphere, subterranean changes, some secret junction of a new spring of mineral or of pure water, lastly the exhaustion of the minerals whence waters receive their peculiar principles, are causes which may occasionally change the quality of mineral waters.
We need not therefore wonder that the results of analyses of the same mineral waters made by different chemists, whose skill and accuracy are not questioned, should be very different.
The consequences of what we have said on this subject are, That the examination of mineral waters is a very difficult task; that it ought not to be attempted but by profound and experienced chemists; that it requires frequent repetitions, and at different times; and lastly, that no fixed general rules can be given concerning these analyses.
As this matter cannot be thoroughly explained without entering into details connected with all the parts of chemistry, we shall here mention only the principal results, and the most essential rules, that have been indicated by the attempts hitherto made on this subject.
We may admit the division or arrangement of mineral waters into certain classes, proposed by some of the best chemists and naturalists.
Some of these waters are called cold, because they are not naturally hotter than the atmosphere. Some of them are even colder, especially in summer.
Those are called hot mineral waters, which in all seasons are hotter than the air. These are of various degrees of heat, and some of them are almost as hot In some mineral waters certain volatile, spirituous, and elastic principles may be perceived, by a very sensible piquant taste; this principle is called the gas or spirit of the waters.
The waters which contain this principle are generally lighter than pure water. They sparkle and emit bubbles, at their spring, but especially when they are shaken, and poured from one vessel into another. They sometimes break the bottles containing them, when they are well corked, as fermenting wines sometimes do. When mixed with ordinary wine, they give it the piquancy and sparkling quality of Champagne wine.
This volatile principle, and all the properties of the water dependent upon it, are lost merely by exposure to air, or by agitation. The waters containing this principle are distinguished by the name of spirituous mineral waters, or acidulous waters.
Other divisions of mineral waters may be made relatively to some of their predominant principles. Hence some waters are called acidulous, alkaline, martial, neutral, &c.
When a mineral water is to be examined, we may observe the following rules:
Experiments ought to be made near the spring, if possible.
The situation of the spring, the nature of the soil, and the neighbouring rising grounds, ought to be examined.
Its sensible qualities, as its smell, taste, colour, are to be observed.
Its specific gravity and heat are to be ascertained by the hydrostatic balance and the thermometer.
From the properties above-mentioned of spirituous mineral waters, we may discover whether it be one of this class. For greater certainty we may make the following trial. Let the neck of a wet bladder be tied to the neck of a bottle containing some of this water. By shaking the water, any gas that it may contain will be disengaged, and will swell the bladder. If the neck of the bladder be then tied with a string above the bottle, and be cut below this string, so as to separate the bladder from the bottle, the quantity and nature of the contained gas may be further examined.
Lastly, we must observe the changes that are spontaneously produced upon the water in close and in open vessels, and with different degrees of heat. If by these means any matter be crystallized or deposited, it must be set apart for further examination.
These preliminary experiments and observations will almost certainly indicate, more or less sensibly, something concerning the nature of the water, and will point out the method to be followed in our further inquiry.
We must then proceed to the decomposition of the water, either without addition, and merely by evaporation and distillation, or with the addition of other substances, by means of which the matters contained in the water may be precipitated and discovered. It is not material which of these two methods be first practised, but it is quite necessary that one should succeed the other. If we begin by evaporating and distilling, these operations must be sometimes interrupted, that the several principles which rise at different times of the distillation may be obtained and examined separately, and also to allow the several salts that may be contained to crystallize by the evaporation and by cold.
The substances which have hitherto been met with in mineral waters are,
1. Vitriolic acid. This acid is sometimes found pure and unmixed with any other substance, though more frequently joined with iron or copper. In its pure state, it is most frequently found in the neighbourhood of volcanoes, where, in the opinion of Dr Donald Monro, it is most probably "distilled from mines of vitriol or of pyrites-stone, decomposed by subterraneous fire." It seems, however, more probably to proceed from the decomposition of sulphur; for neither vitriol nor pyrites will at all give a pure acid. This only can be obtained from the fumes of sulphur, which we know abound in all such places. Dr Vandelli, in a book entitled De Thermis Agri Patavinii, published in 1761, mentions a cave near to the town of Latera, about 30 miles from Viterbo, in Italy, where a clear acid water drops from the crevices of the rocks, and is collected by the country people in glazed earthen vessels. This has a mild agreeable taste, and is found to be a pure vitriolic acid much diluted. The cavern, however, is so filled with noxious vapours, that it cannot be entered without danger of suffocation except in winter, or when it blows a north wind. A similar native vitriolic water is mentioned by Theophilus Grifonius, near the town of Salvena. Varenius also mentions a spring in the province of Noto in Sicily, the waters of which are so sour, that the neighbouring people use it instead of vinegar. In some waste coal pits, the water takes sour, and effervesces with alkalis; but in all these the acid is mixed with much vitriol, or other matter. Dr Monro mentions acid dews collected in the East Indies; this acid he supposes to be the vitriolic, and that it probably imparts some acidity to waters upon which the dews fall.
2. Nitrous and marine acids are never found in waters pure, though the former is frequently found combined with calcareous earth, and the latter with fossile alkali, calcareous earth, or magnesia.
3. Fixed air enters into the composition of all waters, but abounds particularly in those of the mineral kind, at least such as are cold. It imparts an agreeable acidulous taste to such water as it is mixed with, and is found by undoubted experiments to be that which gives the power and efficacy to the cold kind. It is known to be a solvent of iron, and that by its means this metal is very often suspended in waters; and Dr Dejean of Leyden, in a letter to Dr Monro in the year 1777, supposes it to be the medium by which sulphur also is dissolved. "Having been lately at Aix La Chapelle (says he), I mixed a solution of arsenic in the marine acid with some of the water of the emperor's bath, and immediately a true and genuine sulphur was precipitated to the bottom of the vessel in which the water was contained; which convinced me that the sulphur was dissolved by means of fixed air, though Sir Torbern Bergman thinks otherwise, and that the sulphur is suspended by means of phlogiston, and the matter of heat united in the waters; and he says, that if the concentrated nitrous acid be added to these waters, it seizes the phlogiston, precipitates the sulphur, and takes away the hepatic smell." If sulphur is by this medium suspended in water, water, however, it must be by a natural process, with which we are entirely unacquainted; for we cannot unite sulphur and fixed air artificially. We are not informed whether there is any native mineral water impregnated only with fixed air; probably, indeed, there is not, for water thus impregnated becomes a very active solvent of calcareous and other earths, and must undoubtedly meet with something or other of this kind in passing through the ground. Many waters in Germany, particularly in the neighbourhood of the Rhine, are very much impregnated with this acid, and are esteemed otherwise pretty pure; but they have never been examined chemically to discover whether they are not impregnated also with some proportion of metallic or earthy substances.
4. Vegetable alkali was long supposed to be a production entirely artificial; but late authors seem to think that it is a native salt as well as the vegetable alkali. M. Margraaf mentions his having got a true nitre, the basis of which is the vegetable alkali, from some waters at Berlin. M. Monnet says, that from the Pohoun spaw water he obtained eight grains of a grey-coloured alkaline salt from a sediment of twelve Paris pints of the water, which he saturated with the vitriolic acid; and on diluting, evaporating, and crystallizing, he obtained a tartaric vitriolatus, and not a Glauber's salt as he expected. Dr Hoffman affirms, that he obtained a vitriolated tartar from the Seltzer water by mere evaporation; but as this salt has neither been found in Seltzer nor any other water by other chemists, it is probable that he has been mistaken.
5. The fulful alkali is found in many waters in Hungary, Tripoli, Egypt, and other countries where that salt is found native. It is combined in Seltzer water, and other acidulous waters, with fixed air, and may be obtained from them pretty pure by simple evaporation. M. Monnet informs us, that he has obtained it in tolerable purity from the waters of Auvergne; but in most of the alkaline waters this salt was in an imperfect state, and may be called rather an embryo than a perfect salt; for it would not crystallize, and made a very imperfect neutral salt with acids. It was incapable also of decomposing the felsparites, which was frequently found along with it in the same water.—Bergman makes mention of an imperfect alkaline salt; but observes, that all of that kind which he had an opportunity of examining, appeared to him to be no other than a genuine mineral alkali mixed with deliquescent salts.
In some of the mineral waters near volcanoes, this kind of alkali has been found so intimately united with phlogiston as to be capable of producing a true Prussian blue, on adding a solution of silver or of green vitriol to the water; of which an example is given by Dr Nicholas Andrea, in the thermal waters of a spring in the island of Ischia.
6. Volatile alkali has formerly been accounted an ingredient in mineral waters; but Dr Hoffman, and most of the later chemists, have denied this, as the volatile alkali is not a mineral substance. It is possible, indeed, that some waters in the neighbourhood of great quantities of putrid matter may give some tokens of volatile alkali, as was the case with Rathbone-place water, analysed by the Hon. Henry Cavendish.
7. Glauber's salt. Many mineral waters contain a portion of this salt, though the quantity is commonly very small. However, M. Bouldin, in the memoirs of the academy of sciences at Paris for 1724, makes mention of the waters of a spring in the neighbourhood of a village about three leagues from Madrid, which, by evaporation, yields a true Glauber's salt.—This salt, he says, is found in a concreted state about the sides of the spring, resembling the icicles which in winter hang from the roofs of houses. From this circumstance, it would seem that the water of the spring was very richly impregnated with the salt; and Dr Nicholas Andrea speaks of a water at Seville, in Calabria, which is so strongly impregnated with this kind of salt, that he thinks it would be worth while to prepare it from thence in the way of trade. It is very probable that such waters are frequently to be met with in countries where the soil is impregnated with mineral alkali.
8. Common nitre. In some of the barren provinces of Bengal, the earth is so strongly impregnated with this salt, that the surface is covered with a nitrous crust resembling hoar-frost; and in such places the waters are strongly impregnated with it, as may naturally be supposed. In colder countries, however, this impregnation is more rare, though instances of perfect nitre being found in springs are not wanting in Europe; but no natural combination of nitrous acid with sodal alkali, or cubic nitre, has yet been met with in any part of the world.
9. Sea salt. This abounds not only in the waters of the ocean, but in great numbers of salt springs; and there are but few waters so pure as not to contain some portion of it.
10. Aerated fulful alkali. This is found in Seltzer, and other waters of that kind, but combined with such a quantity of fixed air, that the acrid taste of the alkali is entirely covered, and the water has a brisk acidulous taste. By evaporating the water, however, this superfluous quantity of air is dissipated, and the alkali then appears in its more acid state.
11. Gypsum, or selenite. This composition of the vitriolic acid and lime is extremely common in mineral waters. For a long time it was supposed to be a simple earth or stone, on account of its difficult solubility in water, requiring 700 or 800 times its own weight of water to dissolve it artificially, though Dr Rutty informs us, that the water in which it is originally dissolved will contain four or five times that proportion. There are to appearance several kinds of this substance; but whether they arise from foreign mixture, or from any difference in the calcareous earths among themselves, we know not. It is not, however, considered as a medicinal ingredient, nor indeed is the internal use of it thought to be very safe.
12. Epsom salt. Bergman and some other chemists have reduced all the calcareous purging salts in which the vitriolic acid is concerned; but Dr Monroe observes, that these salts not only crystallize in various modes, but have different degrees of solubility in water.—Thus the Epsom salt, properly so called, dissolves in an equal quantity of water; while the calcareous nitrates, or purging salts from mineral waters, require from 10 to 80 times their weight to dissolve them.—This matter would require the analysis of a great number of Mineral. ber of salts obtained from mineral waters in large quantity, and has not yet been thoroughly explained. These salts, however, are seldom met with by themselves in mineral waters, but usually mixed with sea-salt, iron, earth, sulphureous matter, &c. Dr Rutty tells us, that a mineral water begins to be laxative when it contains ten grains of this salt to a pint, or 80 to a gallon.
13. Alum. This was formerly supposed to be a very common ingredient in mineral waters; but more accurate observations have shown it to be very rare, infomuch that Dr Hoffman thinks it is not to be met with in any. Dr Layard, however, in the 56th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, gives an account of a chalybeate water at Somersham, from which he got five grains of alum out of two pounds of the water. Dr Rutty supposes that the mineral water at Ballycastle, in Ireland, contains also a portion of this salt.
14. Calcareous nitre. This is rarely found in mineral waters, though common enough in such as are simply called hard waters. Dr Monro says, that the only one containing this ingredient which he ever heard of is one mentioned by Dr Home, in his treatise on bleaching.
15. Muriated calcareous earth, and muriated magnesia. Muriated calcareous earth is likewise a rare ingredient in mineral waters, though frequently mentioned by writers on this subject. Bergman informs us, that he obtained a small quantity from a spring in Oltro-Gothland; and Dr Monro got some from the water of a salt spring at Pitkeathly, near Perth, in Scotland. It is found, as well as muriated magnesia, in sea water, though the latter is much more abundant, and probably to be met with in all salt waters whatever, but is very difficult to be obtained in a crystalline form; though its presence and nature may always be ascertained, by dropping vitriolic acid into the concentrated liquor supposed to contain it, which will both precipitate the calcareous earth, and raise the marine acid in vapours. Muriated magnesia is likewise found in salt waters, and abounds in those of the ocean. It is the principal ingredient in the bitter leys remaining after the salt is extracted from sea-water, and is much more capable of being crystallized than the former.
17. Aerated calcareous earth, and aerated magnesia. Both these earths may be dissolved by means of fixed air, and frequently are so in mineral waters, as well as iron. They are likewise often found in great quantity in hard waters; nor is there probably any kind of water, unless that which is distilled, entirely void of them.—When such waters are boiled, the air evaporates, and the earth falls to the bottom, which will also be the case upon long exposure to the air. Hence originates the crust upon tea-kettles, the petrefactions upon different substances immersed in some kinds of water, &c. Hence also hard waters become soft, by running in channels for a considerable way; and to this cause we may with probability ascribe the growth of stones in rivulets.
18. Vitriolated copper. This salt is seldom found, except in waters which flow from copper mines. The water impregnated with it is emetic and purgative, and may justly be accounted poisonous rather than medicinal. On dipping clean iron into such water, the copper is instantly precipitated in its metallic state, and the iron dissolved in its stead. Sometimes the quantity of copper is so great, that it is found advantageous to extract it in this way, as is the case in a certain stream in Ireland.
19. Vitriolated iron is found in considerable quantity in several waters both of England, Scotland, and Ireland, as well as in many countries on the continent. Some authors have imagined, that there is a kind of volatile vitriol with which waters are sometimes impregnated. An anonymous author, in a work intitled delle Terme Porretane, published at Rome in 1768, informs us, that having fixed a glass receiver to a hole through which the vapour of the water rises from the aqueduct below, he found in it a month afterwards, as well as in the mouth of the hole, a concrete and incrustated substance, like stalactite, which by experiment proved to be a true salt of iron, with a superabundant quantity of acid. Hence he concludes, that this water, as it rises from the spring, is impregnated with a fine volatile martial vitriol, in such small proportion that it cannot be discovered in any quantity that may be analysed in retorts or stills, though it may be discovered by confining for a long time the vapour, which is naturally and constantly sublimed from the whole body of the thermal water discharged from the spring, as it passes through the aqueducts. The water of this spring is strongly sulphurous, and its heat 92 degrees of Fahrenheit.
Another kind of supposed volatile vitriol is that composed of iron, dissolved by fixed air. The notion of this being a volatile substance arose from observing that there are some waters which taste strongly chalybeate at the fountain, but, after running for a little way, loses it entirely. This, however, is founded on a mistake; for it is only one of the ingredients, viz. the fixed air, which flies off when it is combined with earth; after which the iron precipitates in a similar manner.
20. Vitriolated zinc. This has been found native in the bowels of the earth; and thence has been supposed, not without reason, to be an ingredient in mineral waters; but none have yet brought any decisive experiments on this subject, except Dr Rutty and Dr Gmelin, who both say that they have obtained a white vitriol from mineral waters which were at the same time impregnated with iron and some other ingredients.
21. Muriated manganese. Waters impregnated with this salt are mentioned both by Bergman and Scheele; but the particular properties of them are not known.
22. Arsenic has been supposed sometimes to be an ingredient in mineral waters, though no certain proofs of its existence have been brought. Poisonous springs, supposed to be impregnated with it, are mentioned by Varenius; and Dr Baldassari tells us of a small spring (near to the Aqua Sancta, in the country of Siena), the waters of which kill any animal that drinks them. He suspects this to be owing to arsenic, but was afraid to analyze the water.
23. Foetid oils. Almost all waters, even those which are accounted the most pure, contain some portion of an oily matter, though generally so small that it cannot be perceived without evaporating a large quantity of the liquid. Some contain it in great quantity; infomuch that, besides impregnating the water as strongly as possible, a great quantity falls to the bottom, The other ingredients of these bituminous waters have not been examined; but in whatever manner the oil is united with the water, a portion of it adheres very obstinately, so that it cannot be fully separated even by filtration through paper. A fine bituminous vapour rises from the bottom of some wells, and pervades the water, taking fire on the application of any flaming substance, though no oil is observed in the water itself. Of this kind are the burning wells at Broely and Wigan in Lancashire in England, and others in different countries.
The cause of the inflammation of these waters was first discovered in 1759 by Mr Thomas Shirley, who caused the waters of the well at Wigan to be drained away; and found that the inflammable vapour rose from the ground at the bottom, where it would take fire, as it did at the surface of the water. On applying his hand to the place whence the vapour issued, he found the impulse of it like a strong breath or wind; and the same sensation was felt on applying his hand to the surface of the water. See Phil. Trans., vol. 26.
24. Sulphur. This is a common ingredient in mineral waters; and its presence is known by the strong hepatic smell they emit, as well as by their blackening silver, &c. Sulphureous waters are frequently very clear and transparent when taken up at the fountain; but when kept in open vessels, or bottles not well stoppered, they soon deposit the sulphur they contain in the form of a dirty white powder, and lose their sulphureous smell. The bottom of the wells containing such waters, or of the channels in which they run, assume a black colour, and a raggy kind of matter is deposited on such substances as they run over for some time; and when these are taken up and dried, they appear covered with a true sulphur. Some waters contain this ingredient in very considerable quantity. From that of Harrowgate it may be separated by filtration; and Father de Tertre, in the second volume of his Histoire Naturelle des Antilles, tells us, that when he was in the island of Guadaloupe, and amusing himself one day with evaporating in a tin plate some sulphureous water which he found near the burning mountain, there remained on the plate a layer of sulphur about the thickness of a leaf of paper. Dr Monro mentions his having obtained a true sulphur, by evaporation, from a mineral water at Castle-Leod, in the county of Ross, in Scotland. Dr Brown, in his Travels, informs us, that having caused some of the pipes which carry off the water from the duke's bath at Baden, in Austria, to be opened, he took from thence a quantity of fine sulphur in powder, something like flour of brimstone, which had been sublimed from the waters. A similar kind of sulphur is obtained from the upper part of the pipes and conduits which convey the waters of Aix-la-Chapelle from their sources.
From these, and other facts of a similar nature, Dr Monro concludes, that sulphur is dissolved by some means or other in the water. Great differences, however, have taken place among chemists concerning the mode in which sulphur is thus dissolved. Sulphur, we know, may be dissolved by means of an alkali, as well as by calcareous earth; and there are some instances of alkaline waters containing sulphur, though we are not absolutely certain that the alkaline salt is the bond of union betwixt the sulphur and them. Dr Vandelius, in his treatise de Thermis agri Patavini, already quoted, mentions a substance found in the conduits of the waters of the baths at Aponum, which he calls crystallized sulphur, and says that it dissolves in the waters by boiling, recovering afterwards its solid form. This substance has not been examined; but we know of no other mineral with which sulphur readily assumes a crystalline form than terra ponderosa.
This compound is easily dissolved in water, and communicates to it a most powerful taste and smell of hepatic sulphuris. Great part of the terra ponderosa, though not the whole, may be separated by fixed air, so that it is probably this permanent compound which Vandellius observed. Dr Lucas supposed that the sulphureous waters contain both an acid and phlogiston; and Sir Torbern Bergman, that they are impregnated only with the hepatic gas; and that this gas consists of sulphur united with phlogiston, from which the sulphur may be precipitated by the nitrous acid.
For an account of the cause of heat in mineral waters, see the article Springs.
Having now mentioned the principal substances that form almost all these waters, we shall next show the proofs by means of which they may be discovered in water, without decomposing the water by evaporation or by distillation.
If any portion of disengaged acid or alkali be contained in water, it may be known by the taste, by changing the colour of violets or of turnfolf, and by adding the precise quantity of acid or of alkali that is necessary for the saturation of the contained disengaged saline matter.
Sulphur, and liver of sulphur, may be discovered in waters by their singular smell, and by the black colour which these substances give to white metals or to their precipitates, but especially to silver.
Vitriolic salts with earthy basis may be discovered in water by two proofs: 1. By adding some fixed alkali, which decomposes all these salts, and precipitates their earthy basis; and, 2. By adding a solution of mercury in nitrous acid, which also decomposes these salts, and forms a turbid mineral with their acid. But for this purpose the solution of mercury ought to have a superabundant quantity of acid: for this solution, when perfectly saturated, forms a precipitate with any kind of water, as M. Rouelle has very justly remarked: and indeed, all metallic solutions in any acids are strictly capable of decomposition by water alone, and so much more easily as the acid is more perfectly saturated with the metal.
Martial vitriol or iron combined with any acid, or even with gas, shows itself in waters by blackening an infusion of galls, or by forming a Prussian blue with the phlogisticated alkaline lixivium.
The vitriol of copper, or copper dissolved by any acid, may be discovered by adding some of the volatile spirit of sal ammoniac, which produces a fine blue colour; or by the addition of clean iron, upon the surface of which the copper is precipitated in its natural or metallic state.
Glauber's salt is discovered by adding a solution of mercury in nitrous acid, and forming with it a turbid mineral; or by crystallization.
Common salt contained in waters forms with a solution Mineral. lution of silver in nitrous acid a white precipitate, or luna cornea. It may also be known by its crystallization. Marine salt with earthy basis produces the same effect upon solution of silver. It also forms a precipitate when fixed alkali is added. The acrimony, bitterness, and deliquescency of this salt, serve to distinguish it.
The proofs related for the examination of mineral waters, are only those which are most essential. Many others may be made to confirm the former proofs; but the details of these are too extensive to be inserted here. We shall add only two of them, because they are very general, and may be very useful.
The first is the production of artificial sulphur, or of the volatile sulphureous acid; by which means the vitriolic acid may be discovered in any combination whatever. For this purpose, the matter to be examined must be mixed with any inflammable substance, and exposed to a red heat. If this matter contained but a particle of vitriolic acid, it would be rendered sensible by the sulphur, or by the volatile sulphureous acid thence produced.
The second general proof for mineral waters which we shall mention here, serves to discover any metallic substance whatever, dissolved in water by any acid. This proof consists in adding some of the liquor saturated by the colouring matter of Prussian blue. This liquor produces no effects upon any neutral salts with earthy or alkaline bases, but decomposes all metallic salts; so that if no precipitate be formed upon adding some of this liquor, we may be certain that the water does not contain any metallic salt; and on the contrary, if a precipitate be formed, we may certainly infer that the water does contain some metallic salt.
Two kinds only of gas, or the spirituous volatile part of some waters, are hitherto known; of which one is the volatile sulphureous acid, and the other is fixed air. See Aerology, Fixed Air, and Gas, paffim. Air united superabundantly with spirituous waters is the chief cause of their lightness, piquancy, and sparkling.
When the nature and quantities of the principles contained in a mineral water are ascertained by suitable experiments, we may imitate artificially this water, by adding to pure water the same proportions of the same substances, as Mr Venel has done in examining several waters, especially that of Selters.
We may easily perceive the necessity of using no vessels in these experiments, but such as are perfectly clean and rinsed with distilled water; of weighing the products of the experiments very exactly; of making the experiments upon as large quantities of water as is possible, especially the evaporations, crystallizations, and distillations; and of repeating all experiments several times. We may further observe, that the mixtures from which any precipitates might be expected ought to be kept two or three days, because many of these precipitates require that time, or more, to appear, or to be entirely deposited.
An Alphabetical Table of the most noted Mineral Waters in Europe, exhibiting their Medicinal Properties and Contents.
| Names of Springs | Countries in which they are found | Contents and quality of the water | Medicinal Virtues | |-----------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|------------------| | Abcourt | Near St Germain's in France | A cold chalybeate water, containing besides the iron a small quantity of foffil alkali saturated with fixed air. | Diuretic and purgative. Internally used in dropsies, jaundice, and obstructions of the viscera; externally in scorbutic eruptions, ulcers, &c. | | Aberbrothick | County of Forfar in Scotland | A cold chalybeate. Contains iron dissolved in fixed air. | Diuretic and corroborative. Used in indigestions, nervous disorders, &c. | | Aston | Middlesex county, England | Contains Epsom and sea salt. Cold. | Strongly purgative, and causes a soreness in the fundament. | | Aghaloe | Tyrone, Ireland | Sulphur, foffile alkali, and some purging salt. Cold. | Alternative and corroborant. Useful in scrofulous disorders, worms, and cutaneous diseases. | | Aix-la-Chapelle | Juliers in Germany | Sulphureous and hot. Contain aerated calcareous earth, sea-salt, foffile alkali, and sulphur. | Diaphoretic, purgative, and diuretic. Used as baths as well as taken internally. Useful in rheumatisms, and all diseases proceeding from a debility of the system. | | Alford or Awford| Somersetshire, England | A purging salt along with sea-salt. Cold. | Strongly purgative. | | Alkerton | Yorkshire, in England | Contains Epsom salt, aerated calcareous earth, and sulphur. Cold. | Diuretic. Useful when drank in leprosy, scabs, and other cutaneous diseases. Similar to Barrowdale water, but weaker. | | Antrim | Ireland | Hot and sulphureous springs and baths, resembling those of Aix-la-Chapelle. | See Aix-la-Chapelle, and Baden, in the order of the alphabet. |
G Bagnigges ### Names of Springs
| Name | Countries in which they are found | |---------------|-----------------------------------| | Bagnigge | Middlesex, near London | | Balimore | Worcestershire in England | | Ball, or Baudwell | Lincolnshire in England | | Balaruc | Languedoc in France | | Ballycastle | Antrim in Ireland | | Ballynahinch | Down in Ireland | | Ballyspellan | Near Kilkenny in Ireland | | Bagniers | Biggore in France | | Bareges | Biggore in France | | Barnet, and North-hall | Hertfordshire in England | | Barrowdale | Cumberland in England | | Bath | Somersetshire in England | | Bandola | Italy | | Brentwood | Essex in England | | Bristol | Somersetshire in England | | Bromley | Kent in England | | Broughton | Yorkshire in England | | Buxton | Derbyshire in England |
### Contents and Quality of the Water
| Name | Contents and Quality of the Water | |---------------|-----------------------------------| | Bagnigge | Epsom salt and muriated magnesia. Cold. Another spring contains iron and fixed air. | | Balimore | A fine cold chalybeate, containing iron rendered soluble by fixed air, along with some other salt supposed to be fossil alkali. | | Ball, or Baudwell | A cold petrifying water; contains aerated calcareous earth or magnesia. | | Balaruc | Hot, and contain some purging salts. | | Ballycastle | Chalybeate and sulphureous. Cold. | | Ballynahinch | Iron, fixed air, and sulphur. Cold. | | Ballyspellan | Iron, fixed air, and probably fossil alkali. | | Bagniers | Earth and sulphur. Hot. | | Bareges | Sea-salt, fossil alkali, calcareous earth, selenites, sulphur, and a fine bituminous oil. Hot. | | Barnet, and North-hall | Epsom salt, and aerated calcareous earth. | | Barrowdale | A great quantity of sea-salt, aerated calcareous earth, and some bittern. Cold. | | Bath | Iron, aerated calcareous earth, selenite, Glauber's salt, and sea-salt. Hot. | | Bandola | Iron, fixed air, fossil alkali, and a little sulphur.—Cold. | | Brentwood | Epsom salt, and aerated calcareous earth. | | Bristol | Calcareous earth, sea-salt, Epsom-salt, Glauber's-salt, and selenites. Hot. | | Bromley | Iron and fixed air. Cold. | | Broughton | Sulphur, sea-salt, Epsom-salt, and aerated earth. Cold. | | Buxton | A small quantity of sea-salt, fossil alkali, Epsom-salt, and aerated calcareous earth. Hot. Here is also a fine cold chalybeate spring. |
### Medicinal Virtues
- Strongly purgative, three half pints being a dose. The chalybeate spring also proves purgative when the bowels contain any vitiated matter. - Corroborative, and good in obstructions of the viscera. Drank from two to three pints in a morning. - Corroborative and astringent. Drunk to the quantity of two pints, or two and an half. - Drank as purgatives, and used as hot-baths. Useful in scrofulous and cutaneous disorders. - Resembles that of Balemore in virtue. - Useful in scorbutic disorders and diseases of indigestion. - Similar in virtue to that of Balemore.
The waters used in baths, like those of Aix-la-Chapelle. Some of the springs purgative, others diuretic.
Diuretic and diaphoretic. Useful in nervous as well as cutaneous disorders, in old wounds, and some venereal complaints. Used as baths, as well as taken internally to the quantity of a quart or three pints.
Purgative.
Strongly emetic and cathartic. Sometimes useful in the jaundice and dropsy, scorbutic disorders, and chronic obstructions. Used likewise as a bath in cutaneous diseases. Taken in the dose of a pint, containing only about seven drams and an half of sea-salt; so that a great part of the virtue must reside in the aerated calcareous earth.
Powerfully corroborative, and very useful in all kinds of weaknesses. Used as a bath, and taken internally.
Gently laxative, diuretic, and diaphoretic.
Purgative.
Used as a bath; and drank from four to eight ounces at a time, to two quarts per day. Useful in consumptions, diabetes, fluor albus, &c.
Diuretic and corroborative.
Similar to Harrogate.
Useful in gout, rheumatism, and other disorders in which tepid baths are serviceable. Used as baths, and drank to the quantity of five or six pints per day.
Caroline ### Names of Springs
| Countries in which they are found | |----------------------------------| | Caroline baths, Bohemia. | | Carlton, Nottinghamshire in England. | | Carrickfergus, Antrim in Ireland. | | Carrickmore, Cavan in Ireland. | | Cashmore, Waterford in Ireland. | | Castle-Connel, Limerick in Ireland. | | Caille-Leod, Ross-shire in Scotland. | | Castlemain, Kerry in Ireland. | | Cawley, Derbyshire in England. | | Cawthorp, Lincolnshire in England. | | Chadlington, Oxfordshire in England. | | Chaude Fontaine, Liege in Germany. | | Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in England. | | Chippenham, Wiltshire in England. | | Cleves, Germany. | | Clifton, Oxfordshire in England. | | Cobham, Surry in England. | | Codfalwood, Staffordshire in England. | | Colchester, Essex in England. | | Colurian, Cornwall in England. | | Conner, or Cumner, Berkshire in England. | | Coolauran, Fermanagh in Ireland. | | Cortorphin, Mid-Lothian in Scotland. | | Coventry, Warwickshire in England. |
### Contents and Quality of the Water
| Iron, fixed air, aerated earth, sea-salt, fossil-alkali, Epsom-salt, and Glauber's salt. Hot. | | Iron dissolved in fixed air, along with a bituminous oil, which gives it the smell of horse-dung.—Cold. | | Seems from its bluish colour to contain a very small quantity of copper. Cold. | | Fossil alkali, fixed air, and some purging salt. Cold. | | Green vitriol. | | Iron dissolved in fixed air, &c. Cold. | | Aerated earth, selenites, Glauber's salt, and sulphur. Cold. | | Iron, sulphur, and fixed air. Cold. | | Epsom salt, aerated calcareous earth, and sulphur. Cold. | | Iron, fixed air, and probably fossil alkali. Cold. | | Fossil alkali, sea-salt, and sulphur. Cold. | | Aerated earth, fossil alkali, and fixed air. Hot. | | Calcareous earth, iron, Epsom salt, and common salt. Cold. | | Iron dissolved in fixed air. | | Iron, fixed air, and other ingredients of Pyrmont water. | | Fossil alkali, and aerated calcareous earth or selenite. Cold. | | Iron, and some purging salt. | | Sulphur, fixed air, and aerated earth. | | Epsom salt, and aerated calcareous earth. | | Iron, fixed air, and aerated earth. | | Some purging salt, and probably aerated earth; the water is of a whitish colour. | | Iron, fixed air, and aerated earth. | | Sulphur, sea-salt, clay, and Epsom salt. Cold. | | Iron, fixed air, and some purging salt. |
### Medicinal Virtues
| Purgative, and used as baths. Of service in disorders of the stomach and bowels, scrofula, &c. | | Diuretic and corroborative. | | Weakly purgative. | | Purgative and diuretic. | | Purgative, diuretic, and sometimes emetic. | | Resembles the German Spaw, and is in considerable repute. | | Diuretic, diaphoretic, and corroborant; useful in cutaneous diseases. | | Corroborant and diuretic. | | Gently purgative. | | Purgative, and corrects acidities. | | Purgative. | | Resembles those of Aix la Chapelle and Buxton. | | Purgative and corroborant; taken in the quantity of from one to three or four pints. Is useful in cases of indigestion and scorbutic disorders; also in the gravel. | | Diuretic and corroborative. | | Diuretic and corroborant. | | Gently laxative, and used as a bath for cutaneous disorders. | | Purgative, diuretic, and corroborant. | | Resembles the Askeron water. | | Strongly purgative. | | Corroborative and diuretic. | | Purgative, in the quantity of one, two, or three quarts. | | Diuretic. | | Diuretic and laxative. | | Purgative, diuretic, and corroborant. | ### Names of Springs
| Name | Countries in which they are found | |-----------------------|----------------------------------| | Crickle-Spaw | Lancashire in England | | Croft | Yorkshire in England | | Cross-town | Waterford in Ireland | | Cunley-house | Lancashire in England | | Das-Wild Bad | Nuremberg in Germany | | D'Ax en Foix | 15 leagues from Thoulouse in France | | Deddington | Oxford in England | | Derby | Near the capital of Derbyshire in England | | Derryinch | Fermanagh in Ireland | | Derrindaff, Derrylester | Cavan in Ireland | | Dog and Duck | St George's-fields, London | | Dortshill | Staffordshire in England | | Drig-well | Cumberland in England | | Dropping-well | Yorkshire in England | | Drumas-nave | Leitrim in Ireland | | Drumgoon | Fermanagh in Ireland | | Dublin salt-springs | Ireland | | Dulwich | Kent in England | | Dunnard | 18 miles from Dublin | | Dunse | Scotland | | Durham | England | | Egra | Bohemia | | Epson | Surrey in England | | Fairburn | Ross-shire in Scotland | | Felstead | Essex in England | | Filah | Yorkshire in England | | Frankfort | Germany |
### Contents and Quality of the Water
| Name | Sulphur, sea-salt, and aerated earth. | |-----------------------|--------------------------------------| | Aerated earth, vitriolated magnesia, and sea-salt. | | Martial vitriol. | | | Sulphur, aerated earth, and fixed air. | | Iron, fixed air, and some saline matter. | | Similar to Aix-la-Chapelle. | | Hot. | | | Iron, sulphur, aerated earth, sea-salt, or fossil alkali. | | Iron dissolved by fixed air. | | Sulphur and fossil alkali. | | Sulphur and purging salt. | | Similar to Swadlingbar water. | | Aerated magnesia, Epsom salt, and sea-salt. | | Iron dissolved in fixed air. | | Similar to Deddington. | | Aerated earth. | | | Sulphur, fossil alkali, with some purging salt. | | Similar to the former. | | Sea-salt and Epsom salt. | | Sea-salt and Epsom salt. | | Iron dissolved in fixed air, with a little sea-salt and bitter. | | Sulphur, sea-salt, and a little aerated earth. In the middle of the river is a salt spring. | | Similar to Cheltenham water. | | Vitriolated and muriated magnesia, with a small quantity of aerated calcareous earth. | | Sulphur, aerated earth, and Glauber's salt. | | Similar to Ilfington. | | Sea-salt and aerated earth. | | Sulphur and sea-salt. |
### Medicinal Virtues
| Name | Furgative, and resembling Harrowgate water. | |-----------------------|---------------------------------------------| | Purgative, and resembling Akkeron water. | | Diuretic, purgative, and sometimes emetic. | | Purgative, and resembling the Akkeron water. | | Corroborant. Useful in obstructions of the viscera, and female complaints. | | Used as a bath, and also drank, like the Aix-la-Chapelle waters. | | Alterative, purgative in large quantity, and useful in scorbutic and cutaneous disorders. | | Corroborant. | | Diuretic and diaphoretic. | | Similar to the Akkeron water. | | Cooling and purgative, but apt to bring on or increase the fluor albus in women. | | Corroborant. | | Astringent and corroborant. | | Powerfully diuretic and anthelmintic, and of use in cutaneous and serofulous disorders. | | Purgative. | | Purgative and diuretic. Useful in nervous cases and diseases proceeding from debility. | | Diuretic and corroborant. | | Similar to the former. | | Similar to the Harrowgate water.—That of the salt spring used as a purgative. | | Purgative, and of use in washing old sores. | | Alterative, and useful in cutaneous diseases. | | Powerfully diuretic and purgative. | | Similar to Harrowgate. | | Name of Springs | Countries in which they are found | Contents and Quality of the Water | Medicinal Virtues | |----------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|------------------| | Gainborough | Lincolnshire in England | Sulphur, iron, aerated earth, and Epsom salt. Similar to Tunbridge water. | Diuretic and laxative. | | Galway | Ireland | Similar to Peterhead water. | | | Glanmire | Ireland | Similar to Clifton water. | | | Glastonbury | Somersetshire in England | Similar to Peterhead water. | | | Glendy | Merns county in Scotland | Iron; similar to the German Spaw. | | | Grantham | Down in Ireland | Green vitriol, iron dissolved by fixed air, with some aerated earth. | Emetic and cathartic. | | Haigh | Lancashire in England | Green vitriol, iron dissolved by fixed air, and a small quantity of aerated earth. | Alterative and corroborant. The water is taken from half a pint to several pints; is better in the morning than in the middle of the day, and in cold than hot weather. | | Hampstead | England | Similar to Scarborough water. | Purgative. | | Hanbridge | Lancashire in England | Epsom, or other purging salt. | Alterative, purgative, and anthelmintic; useful in scurvy, scrofula, and cutaneous diseases. Used externally for strains and paralytic weaknesses. | | Hanlys | Shropshire in England | Sulphur, sea-salt, and some purging salt. Some chalkybeate springs here also. | Astringent and corroborant. Useful in all kinds of inward discharges of blood. | | Harrowgate | Yorkshire in England | Green vitriol. | Diuretic and laxative. | | Hartfell | Annandale in Scotland | Sulphur, iron dissolved by fixed air, with some purging salt. | Mildly purgative. Useful in old ulcers and cutaneous disorders. | | Hartlepool | Durham in England | Purging salt, with a large quantity of aerated earth. A very large proportion of Epsom salt, and possibly a little sea-salt. | Alterative, purgative, and diuretic. Drank to about a quart, it passes briskly without griping; taken in less doses as an alterative, it is a good antiscorbutic. | | Holt | Wiltshire in England | Aerated foffile alkali, with some iron dissolved by fixed air. | Diuretic and laxative. | | Joseph's well | Stock Common near Cobham in Surrey | Sulphur, and iron dissolved by fixed air. | Alterative. Useful in scorbutic and cutaneous diseases. | | Ilmington | Warwickshire in England | Iron dissolved by fixed air. | Corroborant. Useful in lowness of spirits and nervous diseases. Operates by urine, and may be drank in large quantity. | | Inglewhite | Lancashire in England | Similar to the water at Peterhead. | Similar to Harrowgate; but intolerably fetid. | | Mingerton | Near London | Sulphur, sea-salt, and aerated earth. | Emetic and cathartic, in the dose of half a pint. | | Kanturk | Cork in Ireland | Similar to the water at Peterhead. | | | Kedleston | Derbyshire in England | Sulphur, sea-salt, and aerated earth. | | | Kensington | Near London | Similar to Aston water. | | | Kilbrew | Meath in Ireland | A large quantity of green vitriol. | | | Kilburn | Near London | Fixed air, hepatic air, Epsom salt, Glauber's salt; muriated magnesia, sea-salt, aerated earth, and iron. | | | Killashar | Fermanagh in Ireland | Sulphur and foffile alkali. | Similar to Swadlinghar water. | | Killinghanvally | Fermanagh, Ireland | Similar to Hanly's chalkybeate water. | |
Kilroot. | Name of Springs | Countries in which they are found | Contents and Quality of the Water | |-----------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------| | Kilroot | Antrim in Ireland | Nature of Barrowdale water, but weaker. | | Kinalton | Nottinghamshire in England | A purging salt. | | Kincardine | Merns in Scotland | Similar to the water of Peterhead. | | Kingscliff | Northamptonshire in England | Similar to Cheltenham waters. | | Kirby | Wiltshire in England | Iron, fixed air, and probably some fossil alkali. | | Knaresborough | See Dropping-well. | Similar to Scarborough water. | | Knowsley | Lancashire in England | Aerated fixed alkali. | | Kuka | Bohemia | Operates by insensible perspiration, sometimes by spitting, sweat, or urine. | | Lancaster | England | Similar to Tunbridge water. | | Latham | Lancashire in England | Similar to the former. | | Llandrindod | Radnor in South Wales | Three springs; a purgative, a sulphurous, and chalybeate. | | Llangybi | Caernarvonshire in North Wales | Sea-salt and aerated calcareous earth. | | Leamington | Warwickshire in England | Similar to Islington water. | | Leece | Essex in England | Aerated iron, fossil alkali, and a little Epsom salt. | | Lincomb | Somersetshire in England | Sulphur, &c. | | Lisbeak | Fermanagh in Ireland | Fossil alkali, with much iron. | | Lis-donovan | Clare in Ireland | Sulphur, and some purging salt. | | Loanbury | Yorkshire in England | Similar to Ilmington water. | | Macroom | Cork in Ireland | Similar to Barrowdale water. | | Mahereberg | Kerry in Ireland | A hot water, similar to that of Bristol. | | Mallow | Cork in Ireland | Iron and fixed air in considerable quantity. | | Malton | Yorkshire in England | Similar to Scarborough water, but is sometimes apt to vomit. | | Malvern | Gloucestershire in England | Diuretic and cathartic; used also externally. Recommended as excellent in diseases of the skin; in leprosy, scrofula, old sores, &c. Also serviceable in inflammations and other diseases of the eyes; in the gout and stone, in bilious and paralytic cases, and in female obstructions. The external use is by washing the part at the spout several times a-day, and afterwards covering it with cloths dipped in the water and kept constantly moist; also by general bathing. |
Markhall, Essex in England. Derbyshire in England.
Similar to Islington. Warm springs, of the nature of the Bristol water, except that they are very slightly impregnated with iron, but contain a great quantity of aerated earth. They are colder than the Buxton; but their virtues similar to those of the two places mentioned.
Maudley, | Names of Springs | Countries in which they are found | Contents and Quality of the Water | Medicinal Virtues | |-----------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|------------------| | Maudley | Lancashire in England | Sulphur and sea-salt. | Similar to Harrowgate. | | Mechan | Fermanagh in Ireland | Sulphur and fossile alkali. | Similar to the waters of Drumgoon. | | Miller's Spaw | Lancashire in England | Similar to Tunbridge. | Alterant, diuretic, and sometimes purgative. Is used as a bath, and the steam of the hot water has been found servicable in relaxing hard tumors and stiff joints. | | Moffat | Annandale in Scotland | Sulphur, sea-salt, and earth. | Purges strongly. | | Moss-house | Lancashire in England | Similar to Illington water. | Diuretic, purgative, and diaphoretic. | | Moreton | Shropshire in England | Similar to Holt water. | | | Mount D'Or | France | Warm, and similar to the waters of Aix-la-Chapelle. | | | Nevil-Hok | Leicestershire in England | Selenite or aerated earth, and Epsom salt. | Purgative, diuretic, and diaphoretic.—Powerfully antiseptic in putrid diseases, and excellent in diarrhoea, dysenteries, &c. | | New Cartmall | Lancashire in England | Sea-salt and aerated earth. | Purgative. | | Newnham Regis | Warwickshire in England | Similar to Scarborough water. | Astringent or tonic. | | Newton-Stewart | Yorkshire in England | Aerated calcareous earth or magnesia. | | | Nezdenice | Germany | Similar to Tunbridge. | | | Nobber | Meath in Ireland | Fixed air, fossile alkali, iron, and earth. | Diuretic, diaphoretic, and tonic. | | Normanby | Yorkshire in England | Martial vitriol. | Similar to Hartfell. | | Nottington | Dorsetshire, England | Sulphur, much fixed air, some sea-salt, and Epsom salt. | Similar to Askeron water. | | Orston | Nottingham, England | Sulphur, fossile alkali, and earth. | Useful in cutaneous diseases. | | Oulton | Norfolk, England | Much fixed air, Epsom salt, and a little sea-salt, with some iron. | Purgative.—It intoxicates by reason of the great quantity of air contained in it. | | Owen Breun | Cavan, Ireland | Similar to Illington. | Similar to Askeron water. | | Pancras | Near London | Sulphur, Epsom salt, and fossile alkali. | Diuretic and purgative. | | Paffy | Near Paris | Epsom salt, and aerated earth. | Similar to Illington, but more powerful. | | Peterhead | Aberdeen county, Scotland | Similar to Pyrmont water. | Similar to Askeron water. | | Pettigoe | Donegal, Ireland | Sulphur and purging salt. | Gently purgative. Very useful in scrofulous and scorbutic habits. | | Pitkeathly | Perthshire, Scotland | Sea-salt, a small quantity of muriated and likewise of aerated earth. | Used as a bath; and for washing ulcers. Inwardly taken it cures complaints from acidity, hemorrhages, &c. | | Plombiers | Lorraine, France | Saline matter, probably fossile alkali, with a small portion of oil.—Warm. | Diuretic and laxative. | | Pontgibault | Auvergne, France | Fossile alkali and calcareous earth. | | | Pouques | Nivernois, France | Calcareous earth, magnesia, fossile alkali, sea-salt, earth of alum, and siliceous earth. | Diuretic and laxative. |
Pyrmont, | Names of Springs | Countries in which they are found | Contents and Quality of the Water | Medical Virtues | |-----------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|----------------| | Pyrmont | Westphalia, Germany | Aerated iron, calcareous earth, magnesia, Epsom salt, and common salt. | Diuretic, diaphoretic, and laxative. Recommended in cases where the constitution is relaxed; in female complaints, in cutaneous diseases, in nervous disorders, in the gravel and urinary obstructions; and considered as among the best restoratives in decayed and broken constitutions. Used in scrofulous and cutaneous disorders. | | Queen Camel | Somersetshire, England | Sulphur, sea-salt, fossile alkali, calcareous earth, and bituminous oil. | Diaphoretic and alterant. Useful in scrofula, scurvy, and cutaneous disorders.—Acts as a laxative. Similar to Tilbury water. | | Richmond | Surry in England | Similar to Aetton water. | | | Rippon | Yorkshire, England | Sulphur, sea-salt, and aerated earth. | | | Road | Wiltshire, England | Sulphur, iron, fossile alkali, and fixed air. | | | St Bartholomew's well | Cork in Ireland | Fossile alkali, iron, and fixed air. | | | St Bernard's well | Near Edinburgh | Sulphurous volatile acid and phlogiston. | Somewhat congenial with Moffat and Harrowgate. In nervous and stomachic cases, analeptic and restorative; in scorbutic, scrofulous, and most dropsical cases, reckoned a specific. Similar to Barrowdale water. | | St Erasmus's well | Staffordshire, England | Aerated calcareous earth, Epsom salt, sea-salt, and iron. | Diuretic and purgative. | | Scarborough | Yorkshire, England | Iron, fossile alkali, and a great quantity of fixed air. | Excellent in colic pains, both as a cure and preventative. | | Scollenfis | Switzerland | Epsom salt. | Strongly purgative. | | Sedlitz | Bohemia | Calcareous earth, magnesia, fossile alkali, and fixed air. | Diuretic. Useful in the gravel, rheumatism, scurvy, scrophula, &c. | | Seltzer | Germany | Similar to Idlington. | | | Sene, or Send | Wiltshire, England | Similar to Seidlitz. | | | Seydschutz | Germany | Green vitriol. | Emetic and cathartic. | | Shadwell | Near London | Sulphur and purging salt. | Similar to Asheron water. | | Shapmoor | Westmoreland, England | Similar to Harrowgate. | | | Shettlewood | Derbyshire, England | Sulphur, sea-salt, and purging salt. | | | Shipton | Yorkshire, England | Sulphur, sea-salt, and purging salt. | Similar to Harrowgate. | | Somerham | Huntingdonshire, England | Green vitriol, alum, and fixed air. | Corroborant and alterative. Useful for washing foul ulcers and cancers. | | Spaw | Liege in Germany | Fossile alkali, iron, aerated earth, Epsom salt, and sea-salt. | Diuretic and purgative. Serviceable in many disorders. See the article Spaw. | | Stanger | Cumberland, England | Green vitriol. | Emetic and cathartic. | | Stenfield | Lincolnshire, England | Similar to Orston. | | | Streatham | Surry, England | Aerated earth, Epsom salt, sea-salt, and muriated magnesia. | Purgative. | | Suchaloza | Hungary | Sulphur, fossile alkali, and sea-salt. | Similar to Nezdenice. | | Sutton bog | Oxfordshire, England | Alterative and laxative. | | | Swadlingbar | Cavan in Ireland | Sulphur, earth, sea-salt, and fossile alkali. | Alterative and diaphoretic. | | Swansey | Glamorganshire in North Wales | Green vitriol. | Similar to Shadwell. | | Sydenham | Kent in England | Similar to Epsom, but weaker. | |
Tarleton, ### Names of Springs
| Name | Countries in which they are found | |---------------|-----------------------------------| | Tarleton | Lancashire in England | | Tewksbury | Gloucestershire in England | | Thetford | Norfolk in England | | Thoroton | Nottinghamshire in England | | Thursk | Yorkshire in England | | Tibshelf | Derbyshire in England | | Tilbury | Essex in England | | Tober Bony | Near Dublin in Ireland | | Tonstein | Cologne in Germany | | Tralee | Kerry in Ireland | | Tunbridge | Kent in England | | Upminster | Essex in England | | Vahls | Dauphiny in France | | Wardrew | Northumberland | | Weatherack | Westmoreland in England | | Wallenrow | Northamptonshire in England | | West Ashton | Wiltshire in England | | Westwood | Derbyshire in England | | Wexford | Ireland | | Whiteacre | Lancashire in England | | Wiggleworth | Yorkshire in England | | Wildungan | Waldech in Germany | | Wirham | Essex in England | | Wirksworth | Derbyshire in England | | Zahorovice | Germany |
### Contents and Quality of the Water
| Name | Description | |---------------|--------------------------------------------------| | Lancashire | Similar to Scarborough water | | Gloucestershire| Similar to Acton | | Norfolk | Fossil alkali, fixed air, and iron | | Nottinghamshire| Similar to Orton | | Yorkshire | Similar to Scarborough | | Derbyshire | Iron dissolved in fixed air | | Essex | Fossil alkali | | Dublin | Fossil alkali, earth, and bituminous oil | | Cologne | Fossil alkali | | Kerry | Similar to Cattle Connel | | Kent | Iron, sea-salt, with a little selenites and calcareous earth | | Essex | Sulphur, fossil alkali, and purging salt | | Dauphiny | Fossil alkali | | Northumberland| Sulphur, earth, and sea-salt | | Westmoreland | Iron, sea-salt, and a small quantity of hepatic gas | | Northamptonshire| Similar to Islington water | | Wiltshire | Similar to Islington | | Derbyshire | Green vitriol | | Essex | Similar to Islington | | Ireland | Aerated iron and probably calcareous earth | | Lancashire | Sulphur, earth, and common salt | | Yorkshire | Similar to the waters of Bath | | Derbyshire | Aerated iron, and common salt | | Essex | Sulphur, purging salt, and aerated iron | | Germany | Similar to Nezdenice water |
### Medical Virtues
- **Tarleton**: Purgative and diuretic. - **Tewksbury**: Diuretic and diaphoretic. - **Thetford**: Similar to Spaw water. - **Thoroton**: Similar to Seltzer, but more purgative. - **Thursk**: An excellent chalybeate, useful in all diseases for which the Spaw is recommended. - **Tibshelf**: Purgative and diuretic. - **Tilbury**: Diuretic and laxative. - **Tober Bony**: Similar to Harrowgate water. - **Tonstein**: Purgative. - **Tralee**: Useful in scrofulous and cutaneous diseases. - **Tunbridge**: Much esteemed in scrofulous cases.
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**Minehead**, a town of Somersetshire, 166 miles from London. It is an ancient borough, with a harbour in the Bristol channel, near Dunster castle, much frequented by passengers to and from Ireland. It was incorporated by Queen Elizabeth, with great privileges, on condition the corporation should keep the quay in repair; but its trade falling off, the quay was neglected, and they lost their privileges. A statute was obtained in the reign of King William, for recovering the port, and keeping it in repair, by which they were to have the profits of the quay and pier for 36 years, which have been computed at about 200l. a year; and they were at the expense of new-building the quay. In pursuance of another act, confirming the former, a new head has been built to the quay, the beach cleared, &c. so that the biggest ship may enter, and ride safe in the harbour. The town contains about 500 houses, and 2000 souls. It was formerly governed by a portreeve, and now by two constables chosen yearly at a court-leet held by the lord of the manor. Its chief trade is with Ireland, from whence about 40 vessels used to come hither in a year with wool; and about 4000 chaldrons of coals are yearly imported at this place. Watchet and Porlock, from South Wales, which lies directly opposite to it, about seven leagues over, the common breadth of this channel all the way from Holmes to the Land’s End. Here are several rich merchants, who have some trade also to Virginia and the West Indies; and they correspond much with the merchants of Barnstaple and Bristol in their foreign commerce. Three or four thousand barrels of herrings, which come up the Severn in great shoals about Michaelmas, are caught, cured, and shipped off here every year, for the Mediterranean, &c. The market here is on Wednesday, and fair on Whitsun-Wednesday.
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**Mineralogy**