place in the Peak of Derbyshire, celebrated for its medicinal waters, and lying in W. Long. 0. 20. N. Lat. 53. 20.

It has been always believed by our antiquaries, that the Romans were acquainted with these wells, and had frequented them much, as there is a military way still visible, called the Bath-gate, from Burgh to this place. This was verified about 50 years ago, when Sir Thomas Delves, of Cheshire, in memory of a cure he received here, caused an arch to be erected; in digging the foundation for which, they came to the remains of a solid... solid and magnificent structure of Roman workmanship; and in other places of the neighbourhood, very capacious leaden vessels, and other utensils of Roman workmanship, have been discovered. These waters have always been reckoned inferior to those in Somersetshire; but seem never to have been totally stifled. They are mentioned by Leland, as well known 200 years ago; but it is certain they were brought into greater credit by Dr Jones in 1572, and by George earl of Shrewsbury, who erected a building over the bath, then composed of nine springs. This building was afterwards pulled down, and a more commodious one erected at the expense of the earl of Devonshire. In doing this, however, the ancient register of cures drawn up by the bath-warden, or physician attending the baths, and subscribed by the hands of the patients, was lost.

The warm waters of Buxton are, the bath, consisting of nine springs, as already mentioned, St Ann's well, and St Peter's or Bingham well. St Ann's well rises at the distance of somewhat more than 32 yards north-east from the bath. It is chiefly supplied from a spring on the north side, out of a rock of black limestone or bastard marble. It formerly rose into a stone basin, shut up within an ancient Roman brick wall, a yard square within, a yard high on three sides, and open on the fourth. But, in 1709, Sir Thomas Delvys, as already mentioned, erected an arch over it which still continues. It is 12 feet long, and as many broad, set round with stone steps on the inside. In the midst of this dome the water now springs up into a stone basin two feet square. St Peter's or Bingham well rises about 20 yards south-east of St Ann's. It is also called Leigh's well, from a memorable cure received from it by a gentleman of that name. It rises out of a black limestone, in a very dry ground; and is not so warm as St Ann's well.

From the great resort of company to the waters, this place has grown into a large straggling town, which is daily increasing. The houses are chiefly, or rather solely, built for the reception of invalids; and many of them are not only commodious, but elegant. The duke of Devonshire has lately erected a most magnificent building in the form of a crescent, with piazzas, under which the company walk in wet or cold weather. It is divided into different hotels, shops, &c., with a public coffee-room, and a very elegant room for assemblies and concerts.

The hot water resembles that of Bristol. It has a sweet and pleasant taste. It contains the calcareous earth, together with a small quantity of sea-salt, and an inconsiderable portion of a purging salt, but no iron can be discovered in it. This water taken inwardly is esteemed good in the diabetes; in bloody urine; in the bilious cholera; in loss of appetite, and coldness of the stomach; in inward bleedings; in atrophy; in contraction of the vessels and limbs, especially from age; in cramps and convulsions; in the dry asthma without a fever; and also in barrenesses. Inwardly and outwardly, it is said to be good in rheumatic and scorbutic complaints; in the gout; in inflammation of the liver and kidneys, and in confluences of the lungs; also in old strains; in hard callous tumours; in withered and contracted limbs; in the itch, scabs, nodes, chalky swellings, ring worms, and other similar complaints.—Besides the hot water, there is also a cold chalybeate water, with a rough iron taste: it resembles the Tunbridge water in virtues.

For the methods of composing artificial Buxton water, or of impregnating the original water with a greater quantity of its own gas or with other gases, see Waters, Medicinal.

Buxton, Jedediah, a prodigy with respect to skill in numbers. His father, William Buxton, was schoolmaster of the same parish where he was born in 1704: yet Jedediah's education was so much neglected, that he was never taught to write; and with respect to any other knowledge but that of numbers, seemed always as ignorant as a boy of ten years of age. How he came first to know the relative proportions of numbers, and their progressive denominations, he did not remember; but to this he applied the whole force of his mind, and upon this his attention was constantly fixed, so that he frequently took no cognizance of external objects, and when he did, it was only with respect to their numbers. If any space of time was mentioned, he would soon after say it was so many minutes; and if any distance of way, he would align the number of hair-breadths, without any question being asked, or any calculation expected by the company. When he once undertook a question, he began to work with amazing facility, after his own method, without the use of a pen, pencil, or chalk, or even understanding the common rules of arithmetic as taught in the schools. He would stride over a piece of land or a field, and tell you the contents of it almost as exact as if you had measured it by the chain. In this manner he measured the whole lordship of Elmton, of some thousand acres, belonging to Sir John Rhodes, and brought him the contents, not only in acres, roods, and perches, but even in square inches. After this, for his own amusement, he reduced them into square hair-breadths, computing 48 to each side of the inch. His memory was so great, that while resolving a question, he could leave off, and resume the operation again where he left off the next morning, or at a week, a month, or at several months, and proceed regularly till it was completed. His memory would doubtless have been equally retentive with respect to other objects, if he had attended to other objects with equal diligence; but his perpetual application to figures prevented the smallest acquisition of any other knowledge. He was sometimes asked, on his return from church, whether he remembered the text, or any part of the sermon; but it never appeared that he brought away one sentence, his mind, upon a closer examination, being found to have been buried, even during divine service, in his favourite operation, either dividing some time, or some space, into the smallest known parts, or resolving some question that had been given him as a test of his abilities.

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