VOL. XXV.] PHILOSOPHICAL TKANSACTIOM8, Sjf 



tion of the saccharum satnrni milky in an instant: and the solution of sublimate 

 in some time longer. Oleum tartar per deliquium spir. sal. ammoniac, spir. 

 vitriol, &c. make no sensible alteration. 



In calm weather, especially in winter, a thick oily film covers the surface of 

 these waters, of as great a variety of colours as a rainbow; a spoonful of it 

 drank, has the same effect, and composes as much to sleep, as a moderate dose 

 of opium. Some of this scum, being dried by evaporation, tasted very fat, 

 and felt so between the fingers. Some of this powder being cast upon a red- 

 hot iron, most of it immediately burned away with some sparkling; and what 

 remained was of the colour of rust of iron, and tasted partly styptic and earthy 

 and partly saltish. 



The water itself, being gently evaporated, yields a yellowish sediment, more 

 or less according to the seasons. Last spring a quart of it yielded 6 grains ; 

 but in September following, the same quantity afforded 9 grains ; whereas a 

 pound of Tunbridge water gave only 1 single grain of sediment to Mr. Boyle, 

 as appears by his Memoirs of Mineral Waters. This sediment, being boiled in 

 common water, made a strong lixivium, with which acids caused no sensible 

 fermentation ; but syrup of violets turned it green. This lixivium being evapo- 

 rated, yielded a fat sulphureous salt, that would not coagulate into crystals. I 

 can get only 3 or 4 grains of it out of 10 grains of sediment; but from the 

 colour and taste of the lixivium there is reason to suspect, that there is a larger 

 proportion of saline particles, which, as I conceive, being volatile, evaporate 

 away with the water. 



From the many surprising cures performed by it, I believe it to be one of the 

 most excellent waters of this kind, as yet discovered in England. The little 

 well is very serviceable in diseases of the breast, as in asthmas, coughs, rheums, 

 and catarrhs. It has cured several desperate consumptions ; most disorders of 

 the stomach are cured by this water. It seldom fails in the cure of rheumatic 

 gouty pains of the limbs, or other parts of the body; in the scurvy and melan- 

 cholic distempers, jaundice, vapours, all sorts of stoppages, scabs, itch, &c. 

 But in the gravel, colic, and green sickness, it is a true specific, as also in 

 internal ulcers, if not too far gone. A certain person, who had been under the 

 care of several physicians, and was last spring discharged out of St. Thomas's 

 hospital as incurable, has been cured of an ulcer in his bladder, by drinking this 

 water for 3 months together. 



In agues it excels the bark: I have seen some obstinate ones, that could not 

 be removed by the bark, perfectly cured by this water; and some constitutions, 

 quite worn out by the frequent relapses of this distemper, restored again. This 

 is also remarkable, that it agrees best with old, decayed, and weak constitutions. 



VOL. v. 3 C 



