Useful Knowledge: Volume 1. Minerals: Or, a familiar account of the various productions of natureBingley, William
History
Useful Knowledge: Volume 1. Minerals: Or, a familiar account of the various productions of nature
Bingley, William
Commercial products; Geology, Economic; Natural history
The original discovery of the mineral spring at Cheltenham was about the
year 1716. The water of this spring issues slowly, and in a scanty
stream of not more than 35 pints in an hour, from a bed of sand
intermixed with blue clay. The well is sunk to the depth of six feet,
and is excluded from communication with the external air. This spring is
denominated the _Old Spa_.
In the year 1788, on digging a well for a private house, another spring
was accidentally discovered, which is of nearly the same nature as this,
and produces a much more abundant supply of water. It is about a hundred
yards distant from it, is upwards of forty feet deep, and is drawn by a
pump.
When Cheltenham water is fresh drawn, it appears tolerably clear, though
not perfectly transparent. After standing some time, it becomes more
turbid, and air─bubbles, in small quantity, rise from it. It contains
more salt than perhaps any other waters, except those of the sea and
some brine springs; and by far the greatest part of the salts are of a
purgative kind. It is also a very strong chalybeate, and has a slight
impregnation of sulphur.
This water cannot long be kept, nor can it be transported to any
distance without being materially altered. In order, however, to reduce
its valuable parts to a more convenient form, for carriage and keeping,
the salts are extracted from it on the spot, by evaporation, and
crystallizing the residuum. These salts are much used, in addition to
the fresh water, for the purpose of increasing its operation on the
bowels.
Cheltenham is a small town in the county of Gloucester. It is about
ninety─five miles north─west of London, situated in a sandy vale,
surrounded with hills of moderate height, and in the midst of a fertile
and well cultivated country.
297. _BRIGHTON CHALYBEATE WATER is a vitriolated chalybeate, which, when
fresh, has a peculiar and faint smell not uncommon in ferruginous
waters, and a strong though not unpleasant chalybeate taste._
_It contains sulphat of iron or vitriol (208), sulphat of lime (182),
common salt, muriat of magnesia, siliceous earth, and a certain portion
of carbonic acid gas (26)._
Brighton is a well─known market─town, situated on the coast of Sussex,
and about fifty─four miles south of London. The chalybeate spring is at
Wick, on the declivity of a small eminence nearly a mile west of the
town, and a quarter of a mile from the sea. A small but neat building
has been erected immediately over the spot from which the water issues,
and where it is received, a few feet under ground, into a basin of
Portland stone. This reservoir contains only a few gallons of water, but
it fills again almost as soon as it is emptied.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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