359 



ON THE 



SALT SPRINGS OF WORCESTERSHIRE.* 



BY CHARLES HASTINGS, M. D., F. G. S. 



Among the various objects which engage the attention of the 

 members of the Worcestershire Natural History Society, none 

 seem more important than those which relate to the local history 

 of the county, and accordingly one of the chief purposes for 

 which this Society was formed, was to investigate the Natural 

 History of the county, and to point out its relation to the com- 

 forts, the health, the wealth, and the commercial resources of 

 the community. 



The brine springs of the county, in this point of view, are 

 more especially an object of great interest. They are of high 

 antiquity, as being sources of much personal wealth to individuals, 

 and of great convenience to the inhabitants of this county 

 generally. The production of salt, moreover, has been of im- 

 portance to governments, as from the earliest times it has been 

 made to yield to thefn a revenue by taxation. 



I need not here dwell on the manifest reflection that salt is of 

 indispensable utility to man, and that its existence in such rich 

 abundance in the natural world is one of those innumerable 

 proofs of design with which the creation teems. The waters of 

 the ocean yield salt abundantly by evaporation ; but the distance 

 of the sea from many localities in which man has pitched his 

 tent, and formed communities of living beings, would manifestly 

 be a great obstacle to the general diffusion of this necessary 

 commodity, if Nature, ever kind, had not buried this treasure 

 also, in the rich storehouse of many of man's possessions — the 

 earth. To this storehouse the intelligence with which he is 

 endowed enables him to have access, and to convert the materials 

 there found to his advantage and profit. 



Salt is found in the earth in a solid state, and is hence called 

 rock-salt. The instances are numerous, and the study of the 

 geological connections of salt with its associated rocks, will 

 amply repay any one who takes an interest in the works of nature. 

 Gypsum, or sulphate of lime, and rock-salt are the most valua- 

 ble minerals found in the secondary strata, and it is from these 

 that most of the important salt springs issue. Now what are the 

 known relations between the production of salt, and the mineral 

 strata in this county ? 



On the western boundary of Worcestershire, we have the older 

 rocks, viz. the primitive chain of Malvern and the transition 



* A Lecture delivered before the members of the Worcestershire Natural 

 History Society. 



July, 1835. — VOL. ii. no. xii. 3 a 



