THE MKDICINAL SPRINGS OF SOUTH AFRICA 



SUPPLEMENT I. 



Rv Vroi. Max Morris Rindl, Ing-.D. 



The sympathetic reception which was accorded to my paper 

 on tlie medicinal springs of South xAfrica, read at the Maritzburg 

 meeting of the Sotith African Association for the Advancement 

 of Science in 1916,* and the encouraging criticisms that ha\e come 

 to my notice, have inchiced me to continue the work of collecting 

 information on the subject. 



My hopes of being able to throw more light on the prol)lem 

 from the therapeutic point of view have not been fulfilled, but I 

 am in a position to add several new springs to those i)reviously 

 recorded. Among these the springs c<f the South-West Protec- 

 torate exhibit some striking features. 



(a) The Windhuk Springs. 



There are three liot springs at Gross-Windhuk, the junker- 

 (luelle (69.8°C), the l'ahl([uelle (73.5°C), and the Bergquelle, all 

 of which enjoyed coi.siderable reputation for their medicinal 

 virtues even before the advent of the white man. At Klein- 

 Windhuk, wdiich is separated from Gross-Windhuk b}' a low range 

 of hills composed mainly of micaceous schists, there are also 

 several thermal springs of lower temjjerature (45 — 55'' C. ). bttt 

 similar to those of (iross-Windlnik with respect to their chemical 

 constituents, and also endowed with therapeutic ])roperties. 



Geological Feafitrcs of the Gross-U'indhiik Springs.-[ — The 

 sj)rings issue from what appears to have been a sim]>le fissure. 

 The strata on both sides of the fissure show no signs of vertical 

 displacement relati\e t(^ one another, so that, apparently, no 

 faulting has taken place. The extent of the original fissure is 

 indicated by a vein of quartzitic material of 15-25 metres breadth, 

 which forms the continuation oif the springs' fissure. This vein 

 has been traced to a distance of roughly 3.4 km., and runs in a 

 more or less north-southerly direction. The brown and yellow 

 colour is due to deposition of, and impregnation with, iron 

 hyd.-ate. The nature of the quartzitic material (crystalline 

 (|uartz and chalcedony), and its structure (variability in trans- 

 parency and colour) characterize it as a deposit from aqueous 

 solution. 



Orif/iit of fhc Sprhu/s. — 'I'he high temperatures show t!ie 

 springs to be of deep-seated origin. There is ample geological 

 evidence that the micaceous .schists extend to a very considerable 

 deptli. so that the rate of increase of the temperature downwards 

 is pr(.bal)ly uniform. Taking the average temperature of Gross- 



* Kept. S.A. Ass. for Adv. of .SV., Maritzburg (1910). 028-5.52. 

 i From an iiii|iiilpli^lu'il lopnit on tlie Windluik niiiicnil sprin;,'^. by 

 Di. Kroncnkcr. 



