206 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 1, 1905. 



THE BATH SPRINGS AT NEVIS. 

 The following extract from the »S7((;/ijr) Culledorii 

 Mii(i":ii>r, J:niunry 1807, on 'The Nevis Sr,:uni)s and 

 their Designs,' by I- B. Brown, Es(i., Postmaster of 

 Kcvis, contains an interesting account of the celebrated 

 Bath Springs at Nevis, with special reference to their 

 vaiuable medicinal properties : — 



The device on the Xevis postage .stamps is a fac-siniile 

 of the great seal of the colony, and represents issuing out of 

 the side of a hill a stream of water which, falling to the 

 ground, forms a pool wherein a sick female is reclining 

 supported with one hand by a companion who extends the 

 other to the presiding genius or nymph of the stream for 

 a bowl which the latter is filling t'l-oin a pittlier of water 

 drawn from the stream. 



There are, about J mile from the princi[ial town 

 (Charle.stown), certain mineral .springs called the ' Dath 

 Springs.' JIany years ago the proiirietors of the land where 

 some of these springs are situated oiiened two of tejiid and 

 one of hot water: over the latter and one of the former rooms 

 were erected and fittel up for the convenience of invalids, 

 while to the other tepid spring a pipe was affixed for drink- 

 in" purposes. Au hotel of almost palatial dimensions and 

 of very imposing appearance, called the ' Uath House,' with 

 several out-building.s, etc., was erected, and the surrounding 

 grounds were laid out in gardens. There are numerous 

 other small springs in the vicinity and scattered over the 

 leeward parts of the island, but just below the drinking 

 spring of the bath house, a spring (the most considerable of 

 that nature in the Island), issuing from the side of the hili, 

 forms a large pool and runs in a continuous stream called the 

 bath stream, deepening and widening as it Hows till it 

 e.xpands into a large pioud on the sea-shore about oOO yards 

 from its source. 



This spring is not enclosed nor covered and is used 

 by those who cannot pay the fee of 6(/. charged at the 

 bath house, and aUo serves as a washing place. Although 

 the spring is extremely hot, the stream varies in heat and 

 in some places is cold. The baths have been of high repute, 

 and the island was much resorted to by invalids when the 

 hotel was properly kept. The extraordinary powers and 

 unfailing eliicacy of the Nevis baths have been long well 

 known in the medical world, and have been celebrated in 

 every treatise descriptive of the cjlonies. Mr. Osborne in 

 his Guide to the Jfadeiran, West Indies, etc., says : ' Nevis 

 is celebrated for its mineral springs. The principal hotel is 

 the Bath House which is situated on a risitig ground and 

 commands a view of the town, the adjacent country, and the 

 sea. It may be considered as one of tlie most .salubrious 

 localities in the island. The house is distant from the 

 landing [ilace about j mile. Appertaining to this 

 establishment are hot and tepid baths possessing most 

 valuable medicinal properties. Sir Hans Sloane says he 

 mastered a severe cough by bathing in, and drinking, the 

 waters during a few days' stay on the island. At one part 

 of the stream which supplies the batlis tlieru are two s[irings, 

 one .so intensely cold as to produce a chill througli the whole 

 frame, and the other too hot to be borne by the naked foot. 

 "An invalid,'' writes Mr. Coleridge, "with a good servant may 

 take up his quarters here with more comfort tlian any rither 

 house of public recei)tion in the West Indies." ' 



It will be seen from the.se extracts that the baths have 

 always been the great institution of the colony ; hence the 

 device on the great seal. 1 have been informed by the 

 Hon. Ceorge Webb, F.li.A.S., Treasurer, etc., an old 

 inhabitant and a gentleman who for many years was Chief 



Justice, and who three times administered the Government, and 

 by the Hon. John A. lies, Colonial Secretary, also an old public 

 officer, that the great seal of the colony was made between 

 thirty and forty years ago after a design by Mr. Colcpihoun, 

 the ai'ent for the island in England, who sulnnitted thi* 

 de\ice for the api>roval of the fiovernineiit, intimating that 

 it was meant to represent the liealing virtues of its celebrated 

 baths. 



COMPOSITION OF COWS' MILK IN 

 JAMAICA. 



The following extract from the annual report of 

 the Government Analytical and Agricultural Chemist 

 ill Jamaica is of interest. Dr. Cousins gives the result 

 of analyses of milk from a iai-ge number of cows and 

 refers to the proposal to establish a legal standard for 

 the island : — 



To obtain data as to the composition of cow's milk in 

 Jamaica the Assistant Chemist has personally .sampled and 

 analysed the milk of ninety-two cows from seven dairies iu 

 Kingston and St. Andrew with the following results : — 



MILK .4N.\LYSIS. 



LEGAL ST.\NDAEDS FOR MILK. 



The milk of the Jamaica cow compares favourably with 

 that of imported animals. The fat of milk is naturally 

 higher here than iu the temperate climates, i)rovided the 

 cows are in good health. The effect of the imiiorted Holstein 

 cross is that of a serious reduction in the nitrogenous and 

 mineral constituents of the milk. Careful selection of the 

 local cows and the introduction of dairy shorthorn bulls .should 

 give us an excellent treed of milch cows for local purpose.s. 



Adulteration of Milk. According to Professor 

 llairison's report on the wdrking of the Food and Drugs 

 Ordinance in British Guiana, there has been a steady 

 increase in the proportion of the .samjiles of milk jiurchased 

 in fieorgetown, which, uiion analysi.s, have been returned as 

 adulterated. This increa.se has been from l."r7 per cent, in 

 1902 to 59 per cent, during the half-year under rejiort. This 

 is a most unsatisfactory condition with regard to the milk 

 sujiply of the city, the pro[iortion being higher than has. 

 been recorded for many years back. 



