145 



beds of ash and lava on the opposite shore of the lake were 

 derived ; but if so, the water would have been at a high tempera- 

 ture, whereas, it is very little if any higher than that of other 

 springs in the neighbourhood. But the large quantity of Chloride 

 of Sodium contained in the water, namely, 87 '67 grains in the 

 pint, renders it more probable that it proceeds from marine 

 deposits than from a volcanic source. 



With reference to the chalybeate spring, which finds an outlet 

 at Woodend Mine, near Threlkeld, I am not aware that the water 

 has ever been analysed, and therefore cannot enumerate the 

 minerals it contains, nor give their relative proportions ; but there 

 is sufficient evidence to prove that it contains a large amount of 

 iron. The stones in the brook into which it flows are coated with 

 the mineral, and when the mine was re-opened about ten years 

 ago, after having been closed thirteen years, it was found that at 

 the point where the mineralized water enters the level, large 

 masses of iron [limonite] had been deposited on the sides, and 

 were hanging from the roof in the form of stalactites, filling up 

 more than half of the width of the level. The large quantity of 

 iron contained in the water is in all probability due to the decom- 

 position of iron pyrites, which occurs in great abundance in the 

 Woodend veins, whence it is constantly being conveyed away to 

 assume new forms and to enter into fresh combinations elsewhere. 



10 



