DERBYSHIRE. 



677 



Derby- 

 shire. 



Buxton 



A description of its mineral waters deserves a dis- 

 tinguished place in an account of Derbyshire ; as no 

 county excels it in the number and variety of medical 

 springs. The tepid waters of Buxton were held in 

 great estimation as far back as the time of the Romans, 

 who made a great use of them ; as, about a century 

 ago, the remains of a Roman bath were discovered near 

 the source of one of the springs. From their time to 

 the year 1571, when Dr Jones published a work on 

 their virtues, which gave them great celebrity, they 

 were never entirely forsaken. The first convenient 

 house for the reception of visitants, was erected a short 

 time previous to that publication by the Earl of Shrews- 

 bury. This building occasioned the waters to be much 

 more resorted to than heretofore, by all ranks of peo- 

 ple. It was much frequented in the reign of Eliza- 

 beth, at which time Mary, Queen of Scots, paid it a 

 visit, and since that period the yearly visitors have 

 been regularly on the increase. The baths are five in 

 number, inclosed in the building called the Crescent. 

 The public baths are very large, but the private are 

 small. The two springs which principally supply these, 

 rise in a stratum of black limestone on the south-east 

 side ; but the water also bubbles up through the chinks 

 between the stones with which the bath is paved. It 

 is calculated, that all the springs throw out the water 

 at the rate of sixty gallons in a minute. On a chemical 

 analysis, Buxton waters have been found to be slightly 

 impregnated with mineral matter, particularly calca- 

 reous earth, sea salt, selenite, and acidulous gas, with, 

 perhaps, some other permanently elastic vapour. The 

 almost invariable temperature of the water is 82° of 

 Fahrenheit's thermometer ; and is clear, sparkling, and 

 grateful to the palate. The temperature of the baths 

 is extremely agreeable to the feelings. The beneficial 

 tendency of the water is particularly apparent in gout 

 and rheumatism; in nephritic and bilious disorders, 

 and debility of the stomach and intestines. The water, 

 when drunk in any considerable quantity, occasions 

 many feverish symptoms, such as a sort of giddiness, 

 attended with a sense of universal fulness and drowsi- 

 ness, and is found to possess a binding and heating 

 quality ; but in a few days these sensations go off, and 

 it often happens that the patient does not feel the full 

 benefit of the waters till he has left the place. 



The Matlock warm springs are similar, in many cir- 

 cumstances, to those of Buxton. They issue from be- 

 tween fifteen and thirty yards above the level of the 

 river ; higher or lower the springs are cold, differing in 

 nothing from common water. The quality of these 

 waters has been examined by several medical gentle- 

 men, who have borne testimony to their beneficial ef- 

 fects. The temperature is rather lower than that of 

 the Buxton baths, being from 68° to 69°, and they exhibit 

 more fixed air. They are agreeable to the palate, and 

 impregnated with selenite, or earthy salts, and a small 

 proportion of sea salt. Matlock contains three cold 

 (or of the natural temperature), and two artificially 

 warm baths. 



Several theories have been advanced, in order to ac- 

 count for the natural heat of the Buxton and Matlock 

 water ; the most ingenious of which was proposed by 

 Dr Darwin. He supposes that the origin of the heat of 

 these waters is in the steam raised from deep subter- 

 ranean fires. The strata in this part of Derbyshire, he 

 says, consist of beds of limestone and lava (toadstone), 

 which lie reciprocally on each other ; and he sums up 

 the whole argument, by stating the supposition, that 

 " the steam rising from subterraneous fires, is owing 



Derby- 

 shire. 



partly to waters slowly subsiding upon those fires, and 

 tolimestone gradually calcined by them ; from whence," 

 he supposes, " it might happen, that this steam, rising v ~ 



through the perpendicular clefts in the super-incum- 

 bent rocks, must be replete with carbonic acid gas, and 

 some phlogisticated air. If," continues he, " this steam, 

 so impregnated, be condensed in limestone strata, the 

 fixed air in this hot steam will supersaturate itself again 

 with calcareous earth ; which is what precisely happens 

 at Matlock, where the waters are replete with calca- 

 reous particles, as appears by the copious deposition of 

 tripha, or calcareous incrustation, along the channels in 

 which they flow. 



To this theory has been objected, that it is difficult 

 to admit, that a subterranean fire could exist for so long 

 a series of years as to keep up a regular and undimi- 

 nished heat, capable of producing the effect above de- 

 scribed ; and that, whatever validity there may be in 

 such an argument, it will be quite as difficult to ima- 

 gine, that a bed of pyrites (the decomposition of which 

 was said to have caused the heat) should be more in- 

 exhaustible than a body of unkindled fire." A new 

 theory has lately been advanced : From the detection 

 of saline matter in these waters, and the well-known 

 property of sea salt to dissolve lime, it is conjectured, 

 that the waters of these springs being previously impreg- 

 nated with acid, become saturated with lime in its pas- 

 sage through the strata before described, and is after- 

 wards decomposed by the addition of pyrites dissolved in 

 the rain water, which percolates through the superin- 

 cumbent strata ; for pyrites containing sulphur, the heat 

 that takes place during the solution of the pyrites, will 

 necessarily disengage a certain proportion of acid ; and 

 sulphuric acid will immediately unite with lime when 

 held in solution by the weaker acids, and, when united 

 with it, fall down in a calcareous sulphate, and heat is 

 again generated during the process. 



Another mineral spring, of a different description, is Kedlestoa 

 that of Kedleston, near Derby. It is situated near the spring. 

 seat of Lord Scarsdale, whose father, about fifty years 

 ago, erected a building inclosing the spring in the 

 centre, and surrounded by two warm and two cold 

 baths. The Kedleston water is similar to the Harrow- 

 gate, but not so strongly impregnated. The spring is 

 pretty copious ; and the water, in a glass, looks very 

 clear and transparent, but in the well it appears of a 

 blackish blue colour, tinged with purple ; and any sub- 

 stance thrown into it assumes the same appearance. Its 

 smell is fetid ; and though, on its first being put in a 

 glass, it appears clear, yet, when it has stood for some 

 time, a duskishness comes on, which is soon followed 

 by a total loss of scent and taste. It is impregnated 

 with sulphur, calcareous earth, and sea salt. It is prin- 

 cipally valued and resorted to on account of its anti- 

 scorbutic qualities. By external application, it has been 

 found efficacious in various cutaneous diseases, and 

 more particularly in ulcerous complaints. It is fre- 

 quented during the summer by a good deal of compa- 

 ny. The temperature of the water is 53° of Fahren- 

 heit. 



At the distance of about half a mile from the above- 

 mentioned place, is a large and strongly impregnated 

 chalybeate spring, or rather a carbonated chalybeate, 

 with the addition of a saline substance. It is chiefly 

 drank for its tonic qualities : it has been found service- 

 able in chlorosis, flatulency, indigestion, and debility : 

 it is much frequented. The temperature of the spring 

 is nearly 49^- °. 



The antiquities of Derbyshire may be divided into Antiquum 



