Essential ones That which I shall take notice of here is the Prevention of the Generation of the Stone because their Pretention that makes them here Competitors is a Propriety of this Kind of Mineral Waters which is explain'd in this History and confirms it and was never before discover'd or understood The Purging Waters owing their Virtues wholly to their Salts are much more various in their Nature and the Ignorance of the different Nature of these Salts has made their different Effects unquestion'd and so hitherto to escape Observation and though the Subtilty and Fluxilness of some of these Salts and not of others may seem to most Men too slight to deserve Consideration and has neither been observ'd nor inquir'd into yet it is most certain that those very Qualities give the Waters a different Capacity Epsom and Acton which both bear only this kind of Salt that neither admits of Christallizing nor abides the Warmth of a Temperate Hand on this Account as they are more Effectual in Grosser Bodies so in Leaner in the very same Cases prevail not nor agree And on the same Score I have found them Effectual in some old Cholicks and Cramps where the Passages and Vessels that wanted cleansing were very small or the Matter glutinous or viscous The same Qualifications which these Waters have for deterging and are conspicuous in the Galling of the Arcus and Urinary Passage that attends often the Operation of these Waters above what is usually observ'd in drinking the others may reasonably enough have an advantageous Use likewise in Ulcers of the Kidneys in a cautious and judicious Hand and they often have been by me observed to be successful in some Obstructions of them which together with the Inconvenience of an Ischuria that sometimes attends their improper or unseasonable Use makes this Consideration to merit our Attention and besides the Softness of the Salt I am speaking of may give rise to a Thought that some emollient or relaxing Quality may be communicated in some cases as in Melancholy for example above what other Waters can be expected to exert But besides the Qualities now consider'd this History will inform us of Differences of the Salts of these Purging Waters in more essential Qualities and that these are almost as many as the Waters whereof some few stand at such a distance as Alkalys and Sea-salt and their Virtues are so proportionably distant that till I consider'd that the Knowledge of the first assisted me in the Observation of the latter I was apt to wonder how so frequent Instances should slip the regard of even the most considerable Men it is familiar for Scorbutick Indispositions to be relievd by one Water and aggravated by another I have known Instances of a Scorbutick Scabies and a Leprous Disease each increas'd by drinking the Water of Brentwood-weal which abated upon the use of Woodham Ferrys And this is the clearer and fairer Example because both these Diseases have been effectually cured by Lambeth Water And I may observe that this makes much for the Validity of this Account that the discoverable Qualities of the Salts of these Waters so justly correspond with their experimented Virtues for which reason in treating of those Waters now nam'd I have oppos'd or compar'd the Qualities of them to each other Indeed though the clear and convincing Detection of their Differences and of the Salts they bear relation to be only subject to nice Essays yet they confess to the bare Taste wide differences some being Bitter more Saline some some Sweet some Insipid or near the Taste of common Water some have a Vitriolick Sweetness some are Austere c. which hitherto has escap'd Observation So that Mineral Waters seem one of the greatest as well as the most useful Branches of the Materia Medica In sum It is by the understanding their Origine and Nature that we can ascertain Rules and distinguish Errors in taking them readily discover their proper Uses and by directing to other Cases and Distempers in which they may be applicable on the same Reason and Account may improve and advance their Virtues And besides the least piece of Service this does in the recording their Uses and giving those Signs that may direct the Discovery of other Wells with the advantage of an Example to direct the proving them is not inconsiderable The Benefit of all this that I may not seem to abound in my own Sense I shall give in the words of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society All which being consider'd we cannot but add That whoever discovers such Healing Waters and publickly prescribes the safe and right Use of them does really distribute larger and nobler Alms than if he built and endow'd a Savoy for this prolongs Life and restores Health which is sometimes better than Life both to Rich and Poor to Natives and Strangers to Neighbours and Travellers According to this Design the History of these Waters will come under these three Heads The General History of them The Essays of the several Waters and then their Uses I shall treat of these two Kinds of Waters distinctly and observe that order that Repetition may be avoided and the former parts of the Discourse may enlighten the latter Of the Nature of Common Water THere are many Questions which seem to lye in my way to be discuss'd as of the Origine of Springs Nature and Origine of Mineral Juyces and Vitriols Of the Causes of the Heat of the Earth c. which the following History makes to disappear I shall therefore avoid the Prolixity caused by such Disputes and only make some Remarks on the Affections and Nature of Simple or Common Water which may help us to the better conceiving of the Nature of Mineral ones 1. Waters receive their Salts of the Earths they wash 2. Common Water holds no Metalline parts nor will receive any Mineral Acids being necessary for Vitriols And though gravelly Waters just at their Eruption will take so much of an Iron as with Galls will make Ink yet that the Acidity belch'd up at those places is a distinct thing and not of the same Original is evident in that the Water looses that Quality a few Yards from the Spring and then ceases to take any discoverable Parts or Qualities from either Iron or Copper or Brass 3. All Waters flow on a Loam or fat heavy Earth such as Tiles are made of and there is a dead heavy sort of it known by its Blackness Weight and Stonyness which is the common Floor of Springs and is therefore call'd in Norfolk the Pan of the Earth beyond which no Pump-maker expects to find Water or attempts to dig for it All the Earth above this approaches to a Nitre being so much the more Nitrous by how much more it is wrought on by the Sun and Air Nitre being receiv'd as a Name for any Native Salt of the Superficial Earth by the Sun and Air produced or separated which is void of
nauseousness of the Stomach Pains of that and the Head to cool to allay Flatulencies and the Cramps and disorderly Motions in the Body and flatness of the Spirits that attends them And this the Nature of the Principles well accounts which are thus far the same for as Water the common Vehicle in both demands Consideration as being most unfermentative and so a great assistant in suppressing Flatulencies from ill Concoction and other Failings of the parts occasion'd by fermented Liquors so the main Principle of the Purging Waters I have detected to be a Chalybeat Juyce These Waters where they can reach and pass and suit by their grossness seem to answer the Specifick Nature of the Chalybeat in some measure On this account these sometimes succeed in the Cure of a Diabetes as my honoured Friend and learned and compleat Physician Dr. Clopton Havers inform'd me upon a Case I consulted him in and as the Learned Dr. Grew hath recommended them which is 〈◊〉 peculiar Province of the light Chalybeat ones as being a Disease of the Glands which else these are unserviceable in The Purging Waters by their grossness have therefore their Effect chiefly on the Viscera and first ways which their Salt qualifies them to cleanse and exterminate Thus they are found to cure Head-achs Vertigo's Cramps Colicks and the Jaundies when their Cause or Fomes is in the Stomach or Bowels or is Hypochondriacal They are suited to the Diseases likewise that attend the grand Climacterick as I call that of 49 by joyning correcting and exterminating the Faeces of the Chyle which then is grosser and more Alkalisate and wants discharge As to differences of the Salts of these Waters as well of the heavy Chalybeats experience made them of weight with me having beside what I mention in its place observed the Jaundies cur'd more generally by those whose Salt was affine to common Salt and that elder Persons receiv'd most Benefit from those that were Chalybeat and that the particular Constitution requir'd a distinct regard to the Salt Of what power unheeded differences of Salts are in our Bodies besides experience I found it so reasonable in that Viâ—rioline and common Salt and Niters precipitate each other that it farther proved it self by the successful use this directed me to make of it in Fluxes of Blood immoderate Flux of the Catamenia and some other Diseases of this Year which by many reasons I judged to be Nitrous wherein I found Chalybeat Preparations to be the only effectual Remedies which were so unlikely as commonly in the Chlorâ—sis promoting such a Flux that I found it pretty hard to perswade some to the use of it And the proper use of the more Acid Chalybeat Waters in Fluxes of Blood make them a peculiar The Virtues of those and the Atramentous appear in their place The last of these are least efficacious and most numerous the Instances of that at Leez Place and at the much honoured Sir Edward Southcot Bar. his Seat are sufficient for Examples The light Chalybeats are the most abstracted of this kind and so fit to the Recesses of Nature which the others cannot reach and to shew the power of the Mineral The Virtues of these in various affects of Body and Mind and Hypochondriacism which produceth them are constant The Diseases are so odd which these and only these do cure that they ought to be specified and shall be done under these Heads The first drawn from the part affected which is the Glands and this Rule is so extensive as to hold in all Diseases of the Kidneys and Glands of the Joynts Their happy use in the first I receiv'd Information of from the before mentioned Dr. Havers which I found confirmed by this surprizing Effect upon their very first taking that instead of passing they stop'd their Vrin which was little to be expected from so powerful a Diuretick as they else are found to be And the perfect Cures of the Gout by these Waters are frequent and have been well attested to me A second Mark or Head The Diseases they are Specifick in is characterised by the Nature of the Waters and Diseases they Cure as the Waters clear depurate and suppress exorbitant Fermentations and as Diseases are produced by the Luxury of the Feculency of the Chyle and effort of fermented Liquors among which are the Diabetes and the Gout which are often produced by the use of fermented Liquors which by how much the staler the Beer is the more sure the Mischief and are incurable without altering the Drink in great measure To which I may add that the Gout is said never to have assaulted any Drinker of Water and many Indispositions are under this Head which are thus pointed at by the Cause A third Consideration that points at the Cases these Waters are proper in is the Occasion and time of the Disease and brings us all the Diseases at the Climactericks A fourth regards the Spring and part of its Origine which is the Brain and Mind and indicates all Diseases of any kind produced by Trouble and Grief The Cure of the Fistula and Feavers may make other Heads and give a rise to greatly improveable Thoughts Now in order to the just and ready use of these Waters that promptuary of Experience can only be certain that nicely digests Observations and specifies the Cases this only can readily point out the Remedy and hinder their improper Administration and discover Cases wherein they are effectual which may be so remote to our sense of them as never would encourage our attempting the Application of the only proper Remedy And this I insist on the more because I have had reason to believe this escape to have been even from the generality of Physicians This may be particularly instanced in a Dropsie wherein the Waters are very improper and often hasten the end of the Patient and yet in the same Disease when it proceeds from grief of Mind they are a reasonably certain and the only Remedy I say in this I have more than once known a Patient dye under the fruitless Application of a regular Course of Physick for a Dropsie when the successful use of the Waters in the same case oblig'd me to conclude the ill Success to be owing to the want of distinguishing the Disease and knowing the proper Remedy next under that Providence that disposed the Concealment Besides Diseases from this Cause are irregular and various and not bear any other method of Discovery or Cure Distempers of the Climactericks are as numerous and their Cure seems to depend as much on the same Discovery and I have often seen Consumptions at 21 and 49 cur'd by the dexterous Application of Chalybeats the Waters chiefly in the Cure of which by common Methods and Intentions their Physicians had labour'd unsuccessfully And as this helps us to the Knowledge and Cure of many Diseases that else lye conceal'd from us so it assists our Judgment in making due and true Prognosticks And
their Virtue two hours which yet will scarce be lost in ten days if headed with Oyl They all give a purplish Red with Galls which upon standing a while turns to a purplish Black Tunbridge Water in Kent THIS Water gives a deep Green with Syrup of Violets as Vitriols do and in the quantity of about seven Ounces and a quarter weigh'd ten Grains lighter than a River-water near me which was lighter than Spring-water and as much lighter than Rain-water and about four Grains lighter than the German Spaw to which it is preferable on that account The Ground above and about this Spring is a cemented Rock and the Spring is large of long use and much celebrated and frequented Wellenborow VVater in Northampton-shire THIS Water weigh'd at the Spring eighteen Grains lighter than common Water in a quantity of about twelve Ounces with a few drops of Tincture of Logwood gave a Black with Syrup of Violets a deep Green with Syrup of Cloves blackish with Galls a Violet Islington VVater THIS Water as the rest makes no Alteration in a Solution of Sublimate and with Sal Saturni dissolv'd in fair Water became milky a little and a little curdled and not clear as with a Saltpetre with Lignum Nephriticum it remain'd pale but clouded a little with a thickish dusky White near a Rain-water and weigh'd two Grains lighter than Tunbridge Water in the same quantity which I thought might be owing to the difference of the Season Felstead VVater in Essex THIS Water lies in a Moor the bottom whereof is a cemented Rock the Earth where the Spring rises is Fat and Bituminous or Unctuous and very Ferrugineous no Incrustation in the boggy Hole where the Water stands but the Water that passes through the Meadow begins to incrust as it touches this Ground It is of the same weight exactly with Tunbridge it becomes milky with a Solution of Sal Saturni and with Lignum Nephriticum suffer'd no stain but only a milky cloud swimming in it This is but a small Spring scarce more than a Land-drain Of the Virtues of the Chalybeat VVaters THE Virtues of Steel are so very great and large and in many cases so contrary as not to be explain'd by what are grosly call'd the first second or third Qualities but to help us to a Notion of them we must consider the Essence of this Mineral in its Affections that are apparent And thus we may conceive of it as a hard body of the Mineral Kingdom and so qualifi'd with Firmness which is apt to enrich the Blood being easily convertible into Fat or Sulphur the nature of whose Sulphur is to preserve Fluid Bodies and the Temper of whose Acid Spirit is such as raises and yet restrains or rather adjusts the Fermentation of our Stomach Soluble Friendly to our Nature and some-how Correspondent to the Mechanism of the Air we live in by its Magnetism and then we may intelligibly add the more Simple and other evident Qualities as cooling potential Heat Drying Balsamick or Healing Quality c. which I shall take notice of under these Heads in these Waters 1. They Invigorate the Blood and Juyces as a Chalybeat 2. They Astringe 3. They Incide and Attenuate by their Acidity 4. The Acidity is Connatural and agreeable to the Ferment of the Stomach and other Offices which these Waters promote 5. On the same account and partly in that it is Sulphurous it is a Fraenum or Curb to Fermentations and Flatulencies and performs more effectually what Oxycrate does in the Vapours in Women and Spirit of Sulphur or Vitriol in Men whence the Acid seems adjusted to the Temper of our Bodies which can preserve the just Fermentations as it destroys or reduces Exorbitant ones 6. They depurate the Juyces of forreign or grosser parts lodg'd with the Nourishment in the Body as is evident in the Stone which is but the same thing which they effect in gravelly Waters at their Springs 7. The Acid being Spirituous passes where other Medicines cannot and so are Diuretick and Exterminate and discharge the offensive Matter by Urine and the rest it Volatilizes 8. The Vehicle of this Mineral and Spirit is not apt to Elasticity or Fermentation And on the account of these Qualifications the Chalybeat Waters warm strengthen heal open Obstructions absterge invigorate and thus are capacitated to stop Fluxes of all sorts and remove many Diseases among which the Stone and Affectio Hypochondriaca stand at the Head But although all the sorts of Chalybeat Waters have some Qualifications in common as to invigorate the Blood and cleanse the Viscera yet as they differ in their Salt so likewise in their Virtues which I shall particularly treat of The Virtues of the Acidulae Which Name I would make proper to those Waters that are lightly Chalybeat THese have a fine Acidity not collectible into a Salt the residue upon Distilling being an Insipid Ferrugineous Earth and as I said before give only a Claret red with Gall. That which is proper to this sort of the Chalybeat Waters is That they are free of any gross Salt and have plenty of a Vitrioline Acid with little of the body of the Steel and that Acid more fix'd than in the light Chalybeats In order to understand the Benefit of this I shall observe that there are Cases that require a Water so qualifi'd either on the Score of the Distemper or Constitution of the Patient such as we commonly call Complexion in which a quantity of Steel may do more harm than the Vitrioline Spirit can do good And this must be allow'd me to be in all Cases and Persons where the Blood offends in quantity Floridness and Fluxilness by every one that observes the power Steel has to heat and invigorate the Blood in the Chlorosis And when I consider the opposite Nature of Chalybeat Acids and Nitrous Salts as I observed before I fansie I have a clear Reason for all this One Case that the Body of Steel agrees not in is that Indisposition of fresh-colour'd florid-complexion'd Persons about the last grand Climacterick as I call that of 49 who are liable to Fluxes of Blood or great Tumultuations of it It is very easie to discover the Alkalisat state of the Blood in aged Persons by only tasting the Urine which in those grows almost Caustick The Diseases that this sort of Water is a peculiar in are Apoplexies Phrensies and Fluxes of Blood and because the first of these is a Distemper that has strangely rag'd of late and extraordinarily this last Winter beyond what has been observ'd perhaps ever before to explain the reason of it so much as to give light to the Effect of these Waters may be no unacceptable a Digression Of the Apoplexy THE Reason of an Apoplexy and the Cause of so sudden a Deprivation of Life that great Judge the Prince of Physicians Hippocrates resolves into a Stagnation or Station of the Blood whereby all Motion and Action of the Spirits is taken away
innumerable delirous Fancies that are consequent to it but in the Diseases of the Body as Obstructions of the parts before mention'd with Cephalick Diseases as Convulsions Epilepises Apoplexies c. the last nam'd of which is so often owing to the Pre-disposition of this Distemper as much confirms the account I have before given of it Now although the reason of the Hypochondriac Affection as it gives a reason of the effect of these Waters may make this account satisfactory enough yet it is farther serviceable in discovering the Cure more clearly and perfectly and by giving a right Notion of it may assist in setting the Understanding to rights and help those that are afflicted to make a true Judgment of their Disturbances as well as incourage them to a Cure With respect to a Cure we may observe the Benefit of Exercise and a moderate Diet without fermented Liquors and that Action and Attention are required to Health of Body and Mind That Action is necessary to due Thinking all studious Men may and do observe and the reason is That the Tumults of the Chyle or Stoppages of the Vessels by it are remov'd by the hurry of the Blood which together with steadiness of Mind which I call Attention gives our Engine its free Exercise and Working And as the same thing that Exercise doth with moderate Living is effected artificially by these Waters so the pleasure of an even Life void of these Hurries and Inconveniencies recommend a preventional Method of this way of Living for its Rectitude and Generosity before the Flights and Extreams of the other that must seek for Remedies to Art And it is to be noted That as this Distemper in all its Symptoms and Consequences is effectually cured by these Waters and as it is moderated by the foremention'd means so all that are affected with it find their Error in drinking Wine and strong fermented Liquors as an artificial Support by the great sinking of their Spirits if not other Symptoms likewise about six hours after and by the increase of the Distemper by that means To which I may add what may be no small Information and hath not been taken notice of by Physicians usually That the Distempers that seize the Body at the Climactericks if they be moderated so as to be kept from making any mortal breach will usually in two or three Years time depart of themselves upon moderate living I could give many Instances of Epilepsies themselves as well as Giddinesses Convulsions a beginning Phthisis c. that abated without any means two or three Years after But as this Remedy viz. these Waters relieve variety of Diseases that are induced by the power of distemper'd Chyle or Nourishment and Weakness of Constitution at the Cardines of our Life or Climactericks so the Observation of this may turn to account if we consider That many Distempers that are not usually distinguish'd are of this Original For the enlarging therefore of this Benefit we may observe That the Affectio Hypochondriaca is in this respect but a Species of Distempers which we may call Climacteric or Cardinal For the better understanding of my Sense in this matter I must take notice That though I cannot admit the receiv'd Notion of them fully either as to their Fatality or superstitious Original from Numbers yet that at the Septenaries or near the Body receives its Changes is not to be denied and that then many Diseases have their Original which may execute not fully till some Years after But although every Septenary may be in some sort considerable yet I judge from Experience that some may be reputed Cardinal and that not from the Efficacy of Number which runs the grand Climacteric upon 63. Those that I find reason to name Cardinal are those on which our Life receives a considerable Change of State and though the fourteenth Year on this account cannot be excluded yet Observation of Distempers or Mortality makes me with respect to Diseases to make or name three grand Climactericks and to fix them on those Years when the Body receives its grand Alterations in its Cuspis and declension and these are 21 27 and 49. The Diseases of the first are Hemorrhages and Consumptions which are frequent at that Age to enter the Constitution and not to yield to Remedies till two or three Years after though the Prevention of Exulceration render it curable The Distempers of the second are Cephalick Nervous and Flatulent Those of the third again are Phthises Gouts Stone Hemorhagies Rheumatisms and other Inflammations that proceed from an over Alkalisat Crasis of the Blood as hot burning or smarting running Pains and the like In all which cases these Waters may be expected to be highly serviceable by the same Qualifications that capacitate them to relieve the Hypochondriacal viz. by Astringing Deobstructing Invigorating and taking off either the Orgasm or Degeneracy of the Chyle And I speak not this without some Instances that favour it But from Hypochondriacal Distempers I pass on next to Ulceration of the Kidneys which I have known cured in more than one by Tunbridge Waters which I must make this Remark on That they were Women of the last cardinal or grand Climacterick But yet must not this confine the use of these Waters to that case only or forbid their proper use in like Ulcers in other Ages Thus according to my design I have recited what I have experienced of their Virtues but I must not pass the Cure of Periodical annual Colds and Feavers which I mention above without this useful Observation that as it is the Peccancy of the Chyle or Faeces of it that makes the Body obnoxious to the Effects of the Air so it may be reasonable to expect the use of the same Remedy to be successful in some other Distempers that come under this Consideration Of some general Directions to be observ'd in the Vse of the Chalybeat Waters THE Directions that emerge from the Nature of the Waters and of the Distempers they are used in vary in some measure with the Constitution of the Drinker the State and Nature of the Distemper and Season they are drank in And although the Choice of the Species of Water is directed by the Distemper yet nice or infirm and cold Constitutions make exactness necessary in choosing those that have least Coldness on which account some have found in the light sort Wellenborow and Islington less safe to be drank or to require more caution from their ill Effects on those that have drank them when out of Temper The Season that one would wish to drink these Waters in is a dry Time and Summer the Waters being then strongest and the Season favouring their exerting their Astringency and inspiriting Qualities yet as Distempers do not wait always for the conveniency of the Remedy so the Waters have been found effectual at all Seasons likewise And the incommode of the Season may be help'd by a Glass of somewhat more Generous after the Waters
it that the Stone was invested with Gypsum bâ—t not divided by it as the rest and was of a lighter colour near that of ashes not high burnt The Stone of Dulwich again resembled the rest but had many shining Particles appearing as in Marcasites Their differences and different Reasons follow by and by in their Essays and will be found agreeable to the account of the Waters where they will be found to have no Essential difference from any Metalline parts or other besides what the differing nature of their Salts import which from their differing depth and remoteness from Nitre makes the Stone proportionably Marcasitical or vary with the Soile The shining of some of these Stones I referr'd to the Marcasitical Nature of the Juyce and found the same Particles natural to the dead Loam whence this Juyce seems to be deriv'd which seem'd to imply that the difference of this Juyce consisted not in any accession of Mineral parts but difference of Digestion and the Qualities the different Region may give it I observ'd among my other Essays of these Stones that when by Fusion with fine Glass I endeavour'd to discover any Mineral Tincture though I discover'd not any yet the Dullwich Stone in the same Fire and at the same time pierc'd the Vessel it was melted in which was of Tobacco-pipe Clay and made it break smooth and shining like China Earth which the other Stones did not effect The Gellying of these Stones in 〈◊〉 to me imported the same it being the â—â—ture of differing Marcasites to form a Butter with the same Salts from which yet these differ'd in that these afforded it not by Sublimation which I try'd And from the Nature of this Juyce the Dullwich Water seems to derive the unkindliness of its Effects which bears not drinking with the same freedom as others being more cold and heavy on the Stomach The further inquiry into the Nature of these Stones and Juyce informing them and how they have reference to these Waters comes in its place The harmlesness of this Juyce appears in the Epsam Stone which is more lax and open being not harder than a Chalk which shew'd its Original but not the Essence of its Purging to require the unalter'd Juyce That the Epsam Stone is the same with the other appear'd in that some parts of it as well as some parts of the Gypseous Earth would gelly in Aqua fortis as well as the other especially those parts where the Selenites shot Else the Infusion of this Stone gave a Green with Syrup of Violets which the others gave not Having thus found the constant Mineral Qualifications of these Wells and Indicia of the Waters it will be satisfactory now to observe more closely the Waters and in what or how they agree And these power to be the same in Original and Nature further 1. That the Taste is common to the Waters as well the Selenitical or wherein the Selenites are form'd as the other sort which are found in a constant loamy Clay and even and this in all its differences For the smooth Taste of Richmond Waters is match'd by the Colchester the Bitterness of Epsam in Dullwich and a little in Brentwood-weal Besides there is somewhat of a common Taste to all so that may assist us in discovering their Principles 2. The Salt though it differs some being figur'd and some not of the latter sort being Epsam and Acton some melting difficultly some easily with the heat of a temperate Hand as the Salt of the same Waters do yet it agrees in its Nature between a Nitre and a Vitriol joyning with Vitriols and not precipitating them freedom from any Corrosive Qualities and Temper in which is a Union of Acidity and Nitre and working a little both with Acids and Alkalys and having these Qualities the same with the Salts they are affine to 3. In their Virtues not only in the Faculty of Purging but in helping the Appetite allaying Hypochondriack Flatus and the like Effects which are Vitrioline Now the Purging Wells are of two sorts The first affording a Stone call'd by Naturalists the Selenites which is shot in the Clay where the Water issues and these Wells always afford veins of putrid Iron together with the Selenites and some quantities of pleasant Acid Juyce like Spirit of Sulphur or Vitriol in a condens'd coagulated form or mix'd with the Earth and lying in yellow or Ferrugineous Veins Thus both at Epsam and Woodham-Ferrys I found it by examining the Wells when new dug The other sort have no differing face consisting of an uniform Loam to the bottom I shall first give a short view of the proofs by which we may be sure we are rightly fix'd upon the true Ingredients or Principles and then examine their Nature and Reason of their Production That the Matter which these Wells exhibit to our view are the very Principles of the Purging Salt of these Waters and parcels of the Matter is proved by these following Particulars 1. The Nature of the Purging Salts varies as these vary as may be observed by the comparing the Essays of the Waters with the Tryals of the Stones and by softness of the Salt of the Selenitical 2. The same Ingredients and Matter found in all and account for what they differ in and from the preceding Uniformity 3. It is not of a deeper Original because where-ever these Ingredients are found there is likewise the Purging Water but beyond these marks is never any thing found but a dead Loam unpassable to Water and unopen to yield Salt And this is clear in the Selenitical Water at Epsam where neither Water nor Selenites are found lower though attempted some feet lower to enlarge the Spring which proved only common dead Loam 4. Not of a wider Derivation none of the same Waters lying in the neighbouring Earth whence these Springs may be suspected to descend nor any of the Indexes of them nor any Metals or Mineral bodies Nor indeed are these Earths found lying over any Mines constant at least as these Signs are 5. Another most evident sign that the Principles are here rightly fix'd is That the Species of these Waters which afford the Selenites we have a clear and good account of from all Naturalists to proceed only from a mixture of Loam and Chalk-stone and perhaps a little Iron and never to be found over any Mine but over Quarries of Chalk or Stone Which is a sufficient Argument and the more considerable in that they never took notice of the Purging Qualities of the Waters 6. The Signs and Qualifications of these Wells before recited are proper to them only 7. Another Argument is to be drawn from the Disposition of this Earth to produce a Salt as is seen in its Efflorescence 8. From the softness of the Salt of the Selenitical Waters which will be understood and compar'd in the following account 9. Their Innocence regular Variation and that these Principles account for all their Phaenomena
Cap. 5. Part 2. dug in Marle pits These are less transparent and as a Species of Gypsum may be called Selenites Gypseus To the second sort which I take only to be the proper Selenites belong those of these Purging Wells This distinction I think necessary to be observed for though I am inclinable to believe that the Waters wherein the others are found may Purge yet the Selenites as they are related to another sort of Stone and have some variety in the Matrix may vary reasonably enough in their Qualities as the Talceus being produced at a Stone-Quarry the Waters can scarce be supposed to want the Coldness or Hardness such Quarries are wont to communicate And so of the rest The Origine of the Salt of these Waters appears most evidently in the Salt of this Species or sort of them which I shall therefore inquire into by examining the Reason of their Production and compare with the Salt that is nearest in resemblance The Salt contain'd in the Waters which I call Selenitical hath these Qualities or Properties peculiar to them To be soft and melt in the warmth of a Hand to be unfigur'd and â—ret the parts of Excretion besides the middle Nature of it and its being void of Corrosiveness which are common to the other sort In its Softness and Fluxilness Nature and Manner of Production it exactly resembles the Salt that damp Cellars produce and is fix'd in the middle to Cobwebs being the steam of the Earth and more liquid part of what is extracted from it and flows in the moist Air there condens'd And no known Salt in Nature hath the Quality of running in so easie a Heat beside the Selenitical but that And as this confirms its Original so the Reason it further complies with this Account For this soft Salt in these Wells is the flowing part of the Matter produced in them the more solid Particles and figurable being detain'd at the Loam and employ'd in forming the Selenites Now that the Lime-stone which is concern'd in this Production naturally effects this separation by shooting the more dense parts is evident in the use of it to precipitate Metalline parts but more plainly in boiling Sugars The slackning quality of this chalky or limy Salt I hinted before to agree with the Earth of these Wells and it is to be noted That the Salt of the Selenitical is accordingly more uniform not so thickning with Gall nor varying so much towards Nitres and Vitriols as the others do but nearer the Spirit So I conclude the Salt of these Purging Waters of a middle Nature between Nitres and Vitriols and form'd out of the Loam by the help of a Vitrioline Juyce or liquid Salt and collected in moist Cavities The Tryal of the Stones THE Stone which I have before describ'd and is common to all the Wells hath when broke the Loam hardned and is invested with a Gypsum or Trichitis Richmond stone is of a light colour and pale near an Ash-colour not divided by the Gypsum but coated with it some Ferrugineous stains were in one piece In the Air weigh'd two Ounces and 50 Grains on the Water one Ounce two Drams and 26 Grains Epsam a more lax stone like a hardned clod incrusted with a grey chalky coat which Acids wrought on with Ebullition but did not slack in the Water weigh'd in the Air two Ounces and 47 Grains in the Water one Ounce one Dram and 26 Grains Dulwich a darker stone and very hard as Flint and inclin'd to a greenish in the body of it in several places and the Cellulae smaller than Woodham-Ferrys or Harwich or any yet observ'd by me where not greenish it had many sparkles of shining small Particles and when beaten fine was whiter than any In the Air two Ounces and 47 Grains in the Water one Ounce two Drams and 39 Grains and a half Woodham-Ferrys Cells as the former but larger the body oft greenish where expos'd to the Air else Loam-like but the Gypsum seem'd to have penetrated the body of the stone In the Air two Ounces and 46 Grains and a half in the Water one Ounce two Drams and 17 Grains Common Loam in the Air weigh'd two Ounces and 49 Grains in the Water one Ounce and 67 Grains Chalk in the Air two Ounces and 47 Grains and in the Water one Ounce one Dram and one Scruple besides four or five Grains lost by its sâ—ackning The Salts extracted from the Stones they all smelt Lixiviat in boyling Richmond stones Lixivium with Lignum Nephriticum took the colour of Rhenish or White-wine or near a Buff-colour With Tincture of Logwood a Red tawnyish Gall a faint Tincture of Red but clear Turnsole Liquor sharpned with Spirit of Vitriol it brightned the Red a little Oyl of Tartar per deliquium no alteration but did not readily mix The Lye of the Roasted Richmond Stone With Tincture of Logwood brighten'd the Red higher than Pump-water With Turnsole preserv'd the Red. With Gall a high Lemmon colour and clear Lignum Nephriticum clear and not colour'd as Spirit of Vitriol does Oyl of Tartar p. d. thick large curdle The Lye exceeded not Pump or common Water in weight Aqua fortis wrought violently on this Stone but extracted no Tincture but jelly'd but not so firmly as the other no Precipitation could be obtain'd from the Jelly No Efflorescence when mix'd with common Salt and expos'd to the Air some time as mineral bodies do Dulwich raw stones Lixivium remain'd thickish white and of taste brackish With Lignum Nephriticum a deep Malaga Sack colour and not very clear as Alkalys Redded the tawny of Tincture of Logwood deep as Alkalys though not so purplish but near that of Acids Gall yellow like small Beer and very thick did not precipitate though it stood a night the cloud gather'd upward and at bottom more clear like common Salt Tunsole it dull'd as Alkalys toward a Blew Liquid Salt of Tartar it curdled large and precipitated as Sal Marine Upon the whole it resembled common Salt especially with a little of the Nature of Sal Gem or withall somewhat Allkalisat The Lye of Dullwich Stone Roasted With Tincture of Logwood a dull Ale-colour as Cellar-Salt and â—laubers Salt Gall a pale Red not more cloudy than the Lye Liquid Salt of Tartar a thick curdle Syrup of Clove Gilliflowers took away the Red and rendred it durty and dark as Alkalys effect With Lignum Nephriticum a pale yellow and clear which grew thicker upon standing six or eight hours like Spirit of Salt Solution of Sublimate no alteration as Vitriols About six Drams with an Ounce and half of Aqua fortis made considerable Effervescence and thickned in two or three hours to a Jelly of a grey dirty colour the powder of the Stone not settling to the bottom Aqua fortis on Chalk wrought thickned a little but not Jelly'd on common Loam did not work Brick Earth only a small Effervescence Cimolia purpurascens
after this manner The sides are constituted of the two Sexangular Planes alternately interpos'd to two of the largest Parallelograms each side standing at right Angles with the other The ends are terminated by the four lesser Parallelograms inclining to each other from the Extremities or lesser sides of the lateral Parallelograms as the two Lines mark'd with the points and dash Thus I have described the Form of it as intelligibly as I can in words but because a Figure will help to explain what hath been said and be a means to represent the Idea better to the Understanding I shall endeavour to give you the best Delineation I can Half of the Planes or Surfaces may be represented thus but the other which are opposite must be supplied by the Imagination a exactly represents one of the Sexangular Planes which hath another like it directly opposite c b d do shew the Proportions of the greater and lesser Parallelograms but they cannot be represented Rectangular in the Scheme as indeed they are as was mentioned above the sides a and b do stand at right Angles and so do the sides opposite to them Thus ◠b. Thus far is the Account received in the Gentleman's Letter dated Scarbourgh June 22. 1697. Some Christals of the Salt of this Water with the Earth or stony Powder of it I received since from the same hand The Salt was clear and uniform or single and not an aggregate consisting of Bacilli or Columns nor plected as the Alum there produced appears the Figure was the same now describ'd only one of the ends was not so exact being a little broken and the Christal in bulk hardly amounted to half the measure of the Figure This Salt precipitated not fine Silver out of Spirit of Nitre as Sea-salt and our Rock-salt does do yet disturb'd not a Solution of Sublimate which Alkalies and Nitres do and which Alum thickens and whitens A few drops of this Salt dissolv'd in fair Water rendred a Solution of Sal Saturni white as milk which Saltpetre does not disturb It curdled Ol. Tartari per deliquium but not so strongly as Epsam Salt The Salt inflam'd not upon a hot Iron though with Brimstone added nor was very fluxile ☞ In Sum The Salt partakes not of either Alum or Sea-salt but is Nitrous not of the Nature of Saltpetre or its second Salt nor so Alkalisate as to discover it self in Sublimate Water or to give a deep Green with Syrup of Violets but which allows a mixture with Vitriols and is not so Alkalisate or full of Nitre as to precipitate but near that imperfect one of our common Earth and which is not so fix'd as to keep in one state or Solution of it in Water but hinders not if not promotes the Fermentation or intestine Motion of the Liquor which it clears by throwing up a Scum For as far as appears to me Salts that have a Solidity and yet a disposition to Fermentation that in burning throw up a Scum rather than precipitate as the Salt of Weal Water and that that stagnates on rich common Earth does among the Nitrous sort It would be advantageous to the discovery or distinguishing of the Nature and Virtue of this Salt to put some up in a Bottle with Sack which is a Wine that makes no Tartar to observe whether a Precipitation would result only to Fine it or a Fermentation or disturbance would be renewed The Propriety of this Water consists in the middle nature of the Salt which keeps thick with Galls as the Salts that Vitriols embody with effect which are not purely of the nature of common Salt yet is so familiar to Vitriol as not to disimbrace soon beside the Chalybeat parts and its less volatile Acidity The Chalybeat Purging Water of Woodham-Ferrys in Essex THE Earth cast out of this Well contain'd many discolour'd Parcels of mellower Earth the colours of which were two that of Brimstone and a Ferrugineous and which yielded Iron upon Essay when only well wash'd And as at Epsam these Veins attend the Selenites so the same stone is plentifully found here most of them were in one half resembling the Rhomboid the other had a differing Figure by the declining of the two opposite grand Planes till they determin'd at an edge which was Semicircular as in the Figure In parcels of this Loam inclos'd I found great plenty of Vermicular bodies which were mere Iron of which Metal one Tubulus Marinus and several pieces I brought away with me and reserve The stone or imperfect Marcasite which I call Lapis Lutosovitriolicus here had many shining Particles in it and consisted of Parcels divided by a thin Wall of Gypsum or Trichitis and precipitated some Iron when dissolved in Aqua fortis and diluted with fair Water The Water was clear of Taste Chalybeat but had more of the nauseous sweetish taste of the Purging Waters not void of Bitterness with Gall a thick Purple as Saline Chalybeats In the quantity of nine Ounces five Drams and 24 Grains exceeded common Water in weight thirteen Grains It chang'd not the colour of Syrup of Violets it took not away the colour of Syrup of Cloves which Alkalies do by inducing a sooty or green and common Salt by rendring it pale and cloudy It agreed with Vitriols and common Salt in making no alteration in a Solution of English and German Vitriol nor in a Solution of Mercury Sublimate yet curdled not much or large with Spirit of Sal Armoniack and less with Spirit of Harts-horn and with Spirit of Nitre suffer'd no alteration with Logwood infus'd a Purple but more toward a Red or Murry Note I used in this Experiment the Water when boyl'd high toward a Salt The Salt differ'd from Saltpetre in rendring a Solution of Sal Saturni milky it precipitated a Solution of fine Silver in Spirit of Nitre immediately as common Salt yet made with Liquid Salt of Tartar but a fine curdle with Lignum Nephriticum a pale yellow and thick as common Salt with Iron and Gall infus'd a right blew Ink and which did not precipitate The Kensington Water gave a more red black and which soon fell and with Lignum Nephriticum a clear high yellow near an Orange This Water of Woodham-Ferrys did not precipitate any Ferrugineous parts or Okar upon its losing its power of Tinging with Galls Then the Water with Gall took a yellow tolerably clear but not purely clear of disturbance near the effect of common Salt The Salt of this Water comes near common Salt Bay Salt with Gall giving a reddish cloudiness as the other a Vitrioline or mix'd one The simplicity of the Salt appears in the colour and clearness with Gall. It precipitated a ruddy Earth in boyling which distill'd Vinegar wrought on with great Effervescence The Salt seem'd of two sorts the first being hard not readily flowing in heat and grain'd and crackling a little in the Fire and leaping Some flat shoots like Saltpetres Bacillis The Earth contain'd
is a natural Effect of a Plethora yet it must be allowed to be but answerable to the Quality of the Salt Epsam Salt hath a Qualification of softness to penetrate farther than others without Obstruction of the nature of Spirit of Nitre and so can both incide and mellow what it meets with The searching Quality of this Salt I have known universally complain'd of as raking and so heating by lean Persons both Men and Women but upon the same reason it is the most extraordinary Purge for grosser Bodies To know rightly the Intentions these Salts satisfie requires a good Understanding of the Nature of the Disease which here cannot be insisted upon only I shall give you one Instance in the Use of Epsam Water in Melancholy whether natural Melancholy be not produced by the Formation of the Vessels and Complication rather than by the nature of the Juyces I dispute not nor how the Brain is concerned The Disease effectively demonstrates it self to consist in the due Separation or discharge of the Excrements of the Body hindered and through want of that Salt that should be separated with them to promote their Expulsion whence their Spittle is fresh and stinking their Body bound and which is perhaps the Original of all this the Blood allows not of a due Separation of Choler and other parts that Nature alots to be amended In all these Intentions Epsam Water or Salt recommends it self by its calcarious Salt to advance the Heat and florid State of the Blood and mix with it by its Acidity to penetrate and incide yet not of power to precipitate and harden but above all by its Softness and Liquibility in Heat or Moisture it is disposed not only to cleanse but to render the Blood fluid and mellow and leave the Vessels lax And that I am right here and not wide from Experience it may be proper to inform the Reader that I have known this Disease cured by this Water only in those Persons who have taken the other Waters as well as other Medicines ineffectually And as Nitrous or Alkalisate Salts raise the Fermentation of the Blood which is the same Effect which they have on Liquors so Acids correct and suppress it The Effect of one is ever discernable by flushing Heats and the happy Effects they have in Malignant Feavers and the power of the last in correcting the Heat of the Blood and putting the Salt in condition for a Discharge is evident in the use of Acids in those Feavers that are attended with Exanthemata And this I mention because in the Choice of a Purging Water for Prevention of Sickness as they are often drank the Nature of the Feaver on foot ought to be consider'd I wave that and proceed to the Classes of the Waters and their several Virtues The Waters agree in general to create or restore an Appetite suppress Wind and relieve Hypoâ—hondriacism But the Virtues that result from their Specifick Nature both from my Judgment and Experience in many of them stand thus 1. A Water containing a Salt somewhat of the Nature of Salt of Chalk but more resembling the Spirit than body of Nitre and not corrosive Of this kind is Epsam whose Salt is unfigur'd or ungrain'd and melts in the warmth of a hand The Cases a Salt of this Nature is adequate to are Melancholy Cholicks and Cholical Pains in the Stomach Obstructions of the Glands and accordingly Heart-burning Pains in the Sides and any parts of the Body if not too confirm'd Scurvy Vertigo it cleanses gross Bodies and safely lessens Fatness relieves Redness of the Face relaxes a costive Disposition and cleanses the Kidneys and perhaps in Ulcers of the Kidneys or other parts may fitly precede Chalybeats 2. A Water more calcarious and whose Salt is more of the Nature of the Nitre of the Earth than of the Spirit such are Acton Barnet and Stretham Waters these I judge proper in the Stone Gout Diseases of the Lungs without Inflammation and for Heart-burning and where-ever the Intention of Sweetning the Blood is required or raising the warmth and heat of it this may be a suitable Purge and are good in Melancholy wherein Acton claims the next place to Epsam They restore a good Colour to the Face and remove or cure the falling away of the Flesh and promote Fatning 3. A Water whose Salt is Alkalisate and resembles Salt of Tartar and the Sulphurous Salts of Vegetables though not perfectly and as is Vpminster may be supposed to have the power of sweetning Acidities in remoter parts of the Body strengthens the Stomach checks Vomiting and where Alkalies suit is a good Diuretick and is a proper Purge where the Body has a Disposition to Agues or Dropsies only here the Salt is preferable to the Water as it may be taken in a more proper Vehicle 4. A Salt Alkalisate with a very hard coagulating Acidity namely Brentwood-weal hath the advantage of an Alkaly to sweeten the Blood but with Astriction it increases flushing Heats Scurfyness and Leprous Humours but is beneficial in any Fluxes through Coldness and Weakness and to the Hypochondriacal whose natural Temper is such checks the Catamenia and may be good to prevent Abortion back'd with Chalybeats 5. A Salt Alkalisate approaching a Saltpetre is that of the Water of Kensington the Virtues of an Alkaly appear before as relating to Saltpetre it may be more Diuretick it tempers Choler allays Thirst suppresseth inflammatory and putrid Heat and easeth Pain The Earth contained in this Water is so much in quantity and the leafy hard parts so many that I should think the Salt of this Water to be preferable to the Water it self Or else the Water ought to be boyl'd till half be evaporated and then depurated by suffering the grosser parts to subside All the Waters following partake of the Nature of a Vitrioline or common Salt or Sea-salt and so resist Putrifaction make a strong Concoction are proper in Worms may cure a Jaundies when it comes upon a Colick mortifie Scabs and remove Scurfyness and kill several Humours as Tetters and the like Eruptions their particular Natures are as follow 6. Waters which bear a Salt related to common Salt but clear of the Muriatick part are Alford in Somersetshire and Colchester To restore an Appetite for Worms and mortifying Eruptions and Hypochondriack Flatus 7. A Salt more fully of the Nature of common or Sea salt in its power of mortifying preternatural Salts in the Body without the severity of coagulating is found in Lambeth Waters whereof the nearest Well is the most perfect The Virtues see in the Examination of that Water Only observe that these are used outwardly as well as inwardly 8. A Salt of the Nature of that part of common Salt which Christallizes in the cold is found in North-Hall Water and may be beneficial in the Scurvy beyond any others as likewise in Rhumatisms and in what cases soever that are attended with Putrefaction 9. A Salt of the