SPA. 



its mineral water?, about the year 1326, and the celebrity 

 which they have acquired, it has been confiderably enlarged ; 

 and now confills ot two ftreets, joined by a bridge over the 

 rtream that runs through it, together with feveral fmaller 

 ftreets and rows of houfes ; thofe of more ancient date 

 being irregularly arranged, and conftrufted of wood and 

 plafter, and the more modern built with brick and ftone. 

 The foil about the town is rocky, gravelly, or loamy, in- 

 termixed more or lefs with iron ore. The country about 

 it abounds with hills and woods, fo that it is not fertile in 

 grain, but it has plenty of (heep, kine, and poultry, and 

 great quantities of game, and tlie Itreams furnifh an ample 

 t'.ipply of various kinds of filh. During the feafon in which 

 the waters are ufed, the town refembles a fair in its variety 

 of booths, toys, &c. Its vicinity affords pleafant and falu- 

 brious rides, and many agreeable and romantic walks : and 

 its vifitors are gratified with evening amufements in public 

 rooms adapted for this purpofe. Some have fuppofed that 

 the medicinal waters of this place are thofe that are men- 

 tioned by Pliny in his " Natural Hiftory," but others ap- 

 prehend that thofe were the waters of Tongres. Thefe 

 waters were at firtt the property of the community of Spa, 

 but they were after«'ards taken poffelTion of by a bifhop of 

 Liege, until an appeal was made to the imperial chamber, 

 which reltored them to the original proprietors, who impofe 

 a fmall duty on every fladv exported under their feal. In 

 the year 1794, Spa was taken by the French ; 16 miles S.E. 

 of Liege. N. lat. 50° 31'. E. long. 5° 30'. The waters 

 are furnifhed by various fprings. Thofe of the Pouhon 

 fpring have been preferred, by our chief phyficians, to any 

 others in or near the country of Liege ; particularly to the 

 waters of Bru, which they complain have been impofed 

 on the public, to their and their patients' frequent difap- 

 pointment. 



However, as the Spa waters are impregnated with different 

 proportions of the fame ingredients, they may be chofen 

 differently, according to the intentions with a view to which 

 they are \ifed. The Pouhon is the itrongeft chalybeate. 

 This is in its molt perfeft and natural ftate in cold dry wea- 

 ther ; but in warm moid weather it lofes its tranfparence, 

 appears turbid or wheyifli, contains lefs fixed air, or car- 

 bonic acid gas (fee Cahbonic Add), and is partly decom- 

 pofed. This water, which is colder by many degrees than 

 the heat of the atmofphere, is fuppofed to contain the 

 greatelt quantity of fixed air of almoil any acidulous water ; 

 and in confcquence of this ingredient, it has a remarkable 

 fprightlinefs and vinofity, and boil;; by mere warmth ; but 

 this foon flies ofl if the water be left expofed, though it 

 may, in a great meafure, be preferved in well-corked bottles. 

 It IS capable of difiolving more iron than it naturally con- 

 tains, and of thus becoming a Itronger chalybeate, on ac- 

 count of the great quantity of fixed air which it contains : 

 and for the fame reafon an ebullition is raifed in it on the ad- 

 dition of acids, which difcngage its fixed air. This water 

 mixes fmoothly with milk, whether it be cold or of a boiling 

 heat. 



The Tonnclct and Geronfterre waters are weaker chaly- 

 beate-, but brilker and more fpTrituous. The Groefbeck, 

 Sauveniere, and Wartmz, are Hill weaker chalybeates, but 

 highly impregnated with calcareous and fclenitical earths, and 

 contam alfo a greater proportion of the folTilc alkali. The 

 Geromont is likewife a weak chalybeate, but contains a 

 great deal uf calcareous and feleiiitical earths, and about three 

 times as much alkaline fait as any of the others. The four 

 laft waters, therefore, will be better in difonkr; arifing from 

 an acid caufe, and as diuretics, particilarly the Geromont. 

 The Bru, or Churon water, approaches to tljc nature of 



the Tonnelet, and though it has been decried, is faid, iii 

 eonfequence of every trial, not to be inferior to any of the 

 Spa waters. 



All the waters that are comprehended under this denomi- 

 nation, abound with fixed air ; they alfo contain more or lefs 

 iron, foffile alkali, and calcareous and felcnitical earths, to- 

 gether with a fmall portion of fea-falt, and an oily matter 

 common to all waters. All thefe ingredients are kept fuf- 

 pended, and in a neutral Hate, by means of the fixed air, on 

 which the virtues chiefly depend ; though they are probably 

 rendered more aftive and penetrating, both in the firll paf- 

 fages, and alfo when they enter the circulation, by means 

 of that fmall portion of iron, earth, fait, &c. with which 

 they are impregnated. 



Thefe waters are diuretic and fomctimes purgative ; and, 

 like other chalybeate waters, they tinge the ftools black. 

 They exhilarate the fpirits much better than wineorfpirituous 

 liquors, and their general operation is by ilrengthening the 

 fibres. They cool and quench thirll much better than com- 

 mon water. 



They are found excellent in cafes of univerfal languor or 

 weaknefs, proceeding from a relaxation of the flomach, and 

 of the fibres in general, and where the conftitution has been 

 weakened by difeafes, or by a too fedentary life ; in weak, 

 relaxed, grofs habits ; in nervous diforders ; at the clofe of 

 fits of the gout and rheumatilm ; in fuch afthmatic difor- 

 ders and chronic coughs as proceed from too great a relaxa- 

 tion of the pulmonary vellels ; in obftruftioiis of the liver 

 and fpleen ; in fcorbutic and other putrid diforders ; in hyf- 

 terical and hypochondriacal complaints; in paralytic difor- 

 ders ; in gleets ; in the fluor albus ; in fluxes of the belly ; 

 in the gravel and Itonc ; in female obftruftions ; in barren- 

 nefs ; and in moll other cafes where a Ilrengthening and brifk 

 ilimulating refolving chalybeate remedy is wanted : but they 

 are generally hurtful in hot, bilious, and plethoric conftitu- 

 tions, when ufed before the body is cooled by proper eva- 

 cuations ; they are alfo hurtful in cafes of fever and heat, 

 in heftic fevers, and ulcerations of the lungs, and of other 

 internal parts, and in moll confirmed obltruAions attended 

 with fever. The ufual feafon for drinking them u in July 

 and Augult, or from May to September. The quantity to 

 be drank is fuch as the ilomach can bear without heavinefs 

 or uneafinefs : but it is advifeabic to begin with drinking a 

 glafs or two feveral times in a day, and fo increafe the quan- 

 tity daily, as the ftomach can bear ; and during the courfe 

 to continue that dofe, and to diininini the quantity at the 

 clofc in the fame degree as it was augmented at the begin- 

 ning. Moderate exerciie is proper after drinking. Pre- 

 vious to the ufe of the water, the firil pafl'ages (hould be 

 cleanfed by gentle purges, and, if nccedary, an emetic 

 fhould be given ; and during the courfe, collivcnefs fhould 

 be prevented, by occalionally adding Rochelle falts or rhu- 

 barb to the firll glalles of water 111 the morning ; and a 

 cooling regimen fhould be obferved. 



The Spu water is alio ufed externally, in a variety of 

 cafes, with good fuccefs. It is ufed as an injcftion in the 

 fluor albus, and in ulcers and cancers of the womb, and alfo 

 in the gonorrhoea ; it is ferviceable for walhing venereal 

 aphthae, and ulcers in the mouth, pliaga;denic ulcer.s, by 

 way of gargle for relaxed tonlila, and for fallening loofe 

 teeth, and in other cafes of relaxation. It is alfo laid to cure 

 the itch, and fimilar complaints, by wafhing and bathing, 

 an int<rn;il courl'e being ublerved at the fame time. Elliott's 

 Mineral Waters, p. 201, &C. 



The town of Spa being rcfortcd to by perfons from all 

 paitsof Europe, on account of its waters, has always been 

 allowed a neutrality during the hottelt wars. 



SPAAD, 



