'1I11-: MKDR IXAI, SrRI.\(;S 111' SOl'Tll AFRICA. 3,^1 



Part 11. l-?ul il niusl ho home in niind thai ihc comparison i.> 

 made scilelv on the basis of the chemical analysis, whilst the 

 chemical compo.^ition is only one oi several factors determininir 

 the natnre and efificacy of a spring. Radioactivit\-. temperature 

 and altitude should all he taken into consideration, and until \\c 

 have at our dispcx^al a complete set of data concerninj^ South 

 African springs such ct^nparisons must be regarded merely 

 as tentative. It is for that reason that I have refrained from 

 drawing any parallels. 



Classificatio)i. — The recognised method oi classihcation is 

 on the basis of the chemical composition. There is a long list 

 of springs of which no analyses exist, and which must conse- 

 c|uently be left unclassified, with the exception of those which 

 can be recognised by their smell as containing sulphuretted hydro- 

 gen, and which are added to the group of sulphur waters. In 

 many cases my decision in assignins; a spring to this or that gi'"up 

 will be open to criticism, and in view of the incompleteness (^f 

 the existing data, no etTort has been made to subdivide the 

 groups. 



Only three groups are well represented among South African 

 springs, the indilTerent, the sul])hur. and the chalybeate springs. 

 Each of these groups contain springs which have attained to 

 more than a local reputation, Montagu in the first, Malmesbury 

 in the second, and Caledon in the third group. 



Indifferent Springs are defined as such, containing less than 

 1 gram of dissolved solid constituents, and not more than i gram 

 of free carbon dioxide per liti"e. These waters contain no mineral 

 constituent in sufficient quantity to have a ]Dronounced elifect on 

 the sy.stem, and their action is probably due to their temperature, 

 which in the case of all South .\frican springs of this group, is 

 well above the average temperature of the atmosphere. Possibly 

 their efficacy may also in some measure be attributable to their 

 radioactivity. 1 append a list of some of the well-known Euro- 

 pean springs of the same group for comparison : 



PfafYers .... . . 99° F. Gastein 9vii8' F. 



Ragatz 95° F. Wildbad (Wfir- 



Teplitz 101-120° F. temberg) .... (;5-ioi ' F. 



Sulphur Springs. — In this country all springs with the 

 odour of sulphuretted hydrogen are classed as suli>hur 

 springs. I am inclined to think that that is not a 

 sufficient criterion. Many well waters in the Karroo con- 

 tain small amounts of sul])huretted hydrogen ( hence so 

 man\- farms are called " Stinkfontem " ), but few of them 

 are. to my knowledge, endowed with medicinal virtues. 

 The majority of the well-known sulphur si)rings in other parts 

 of the world contain metallic .sulphides in addition to sulphur- 

 etted hydrogen, and these sulphides are probably far more potent 

 than the small amount of dissolved gas. The only South .\frican 

 sul])hur springs reported as containing combined sulphur«?tted 

 hydrogen (sodium sulphide) are those of Machadodorp, W'elte- 



