HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE. 107 



We have mentioned many points in which the present generation is 

 advantageously distinguished from the last. There is, however, one 

 peculiarity in modern society of a more equivocal merit ; we mean the 

 custom of deserting the quiet English homes of the country for the glare 

 and the parade of watering places. To these places of resort some fly 

 for health, but more for diversion ; some to escape from the business, and 

 many to escape from the onerous duties of their station ; and all, with 

 one accord, devote themselves to vacuity of mind and utter idleness ; — 

 all save the student of Natural History, to whom the nature of the 

 different mineral springs, the character of the earths in which such 

 healing waters arise, and the features of the surrounding country, 

 present so many fresh objects of study. Whilst gathering health and 

 spirits on the hills of Malvern, of all the resorts of invalids the most 

 delightful, and the freest from the empty follies of a spa, the convalescent, 

 if a little acquainted with Natural History, will find boundless amuse- 

 ment in the mineralogy and geology of the hills, in the plants which 

 grow there, and in the numerous springs which take their rise among 

 them. These well known hills, of which, although their height does not 

 quite reach 1500 feet, the beautiful outline makes them an ornament to 

 every landscape of which they form in their various aspects any part, 

 are also sufficiently remarkable to interest the geologist, and to excite 

 the student's curiosity. On one side, the eastern, the principal formation 

 is the unstratified granite, or the oldest material of the globe ; whilst on 

 the western side occur the sandstone, and the transition limestone, con- 

 taining shells and other organic remains of animals of species now 

 extinct. The water-springs take a character from these diversities of 

 source : those arising from the ancient rock are well known to be 

 singularly pure, whilst those of the western side are far from possessing 

 the same recommendation. After a few weeks passed near these hills, 

 our young friends might have collected a little museum of stones and 

 fossils, and on paying a visit to the Natural History Society of Worcester, 

 they will meet with explanations of the treasures they have thus 

 picked up in their rambles. The heath will not be less soft, nor the air 

 less sweet and reviving, nor will the landscape appear less diversified and 

 beautiful, for the thoughts being thus occasionally withdrawn from ex- 

 tensive views to an inspection of the details of this wonderful earth on 

 which we live. 



But we may be accused of falling into that error of philosophy, making 

 appeals in too high a strain, and holding out pleasures of a lofty cast 

 when we ought to seek our arguments and illustrations from humbler 

 subjects. Be it so. Can any of our young readers use day by day the 

 familiar article of salt^ and never ask how and where it is procured ? 

 This valuable but common condiment may be procured from the sea, 

 by evaporation of the water ; it also occurs in some parts of the world in 

 mines ; and in parts of Worcestershire it flows dissolved in springs. 



" Situated nearly in the centre of the county, and on the river Salwarp, is 

 Droitwich, long celebrated for its brine springs and the manufacture of salt. The 

 springs, from which the salt is procured, appear to be inexhaustible. It is probable 

 that the manufacture of salt is coeval with the town itself, but it was not until the 

 year 1^25 that the strong brine for which it is now famous, was discovered. Its 

 purity is considered superior to that of any procured elsewhere, and the quantity 

 of salt produced amounts to about 700,000 bushels yearly. At a distance of from 

 30 to 40 feet below the surface of the earth, is a hard bed of talc or gypsum, 

 . which is generally about 150 feet thick ; through this a small hole is bored to the 

 river of brine, which is in depth about 22 inches, and beneath which is a hard rock 

 of salt. The water rises rapidly through this aperture, and is pumped into a 

 capacious reservoir, whence it is conveyed into iron boilers for evaporation. This 



