WATER. 



fupplied by fprings and rain are the reverfe. The water of 

 fome rivers is remarkable for its colour : thus that of the 

 Tinto, in Spain, at its fource is of a iine topaz, a circum- 

 ftance from which the river takes its name. Others are of a 

 yellowifh or greyifh-vvhite, and the water of all fuch rivers 

 ufually holds a large proportion of fome fait of lime in folu- 

 tion. In countries where bogs and mardies abound, the 

 rivers are often tinged of a brownifh colour. 



e. Stagnant Waters. — Under this head are included the 

 waters of lakes, pools, and refervoirs of every defcription, 

 in which this fluid is expofed to the air in a ftate of relt. 

 Stagnant waters, in general, prefent greater impurities to the 

 fenfes than any others, from their ufually containing a large 

 proportion of animal and vegetable matters in a ftate of de- 

 compofition. Their tafte in general is vapid, and defti- 

 tute of that frefhnefs and agreeable coohiefs which diftin- 

 guifli fpring-water. Stagnant waters have various origins, 

 but ufually they are a mixture of rain, fpring, and river 

 water ; and hence, beiides the animal and vegetable matters 

 they contain, may be fuppofed to be impregnated with the 

 various fahne matters ufually met with in fuch waters. Many 

 ftagnant waters are faid to contain the nitrate of potafh ; 

 others, and efpecially fome lakes, abound in the fulphate 

 of magnefia ; others in the carbonate of foda, as, for exam- 

 ple, the natron lakes of Egypt and Hungary, which are 

 generally very fhallow. A lake in Thibet is impregnated 

 with the borate of foda mixed with the muriate of foda, the 

 waters of which feem to have a fubterranean origin. Some 

 lakes alfo are found impregnated with fulphuretted hydrogen 

 gas. Stagnant waters are feldom perfectly colourlefs and 

 tranfparent. Lakes, when deep, are ufually of a blueifh 

 tinge, mixed with green ; and when the neiglibouring hills 

 are covered with peat, &c. their water is always of a muddy- 

 brownifh tinge, as, for example, is the cafe with moft of 

 the lakes in Scotland. 



I. Ufes of Potable IValers. — If we were to be directed by 

 the evidences of the fenfes alone, fpring-waten would un- 

 doubtedly be pronounced to be the moft wholefome, for they 

 are univerfally admitted to be the molt .agreeable. All 

 other waters have more or lefs of a flat infipid tafte. This 

 is efpecially the cafe with ili/lilkd and rain water ; the firft of 

 which is quite pure, and the fecond nearly fo. D'lftilhd 

 water, therefore, is feldom employed for drinking ; and the 

 difSculty of procuring it in large quantities almoll precludes 

 its ufe to any extent in the preparation of food, or in manu- 

 factures. Much, however, has been lately faid of its me- 

 dicinal powers by Dr. Lambe, who has recommended it in 

 cancerous and other affeftions ; and, as Dr. Saunders juftly 

 obferves, water, when not already loaded with foreign mat- 

 ters, may become a folvent for concretions in the urinary paf- 

 fages ; and as much good has been obtained from the ufe of 

 very pure natural fprings, a courfe of diftilled water may be 

 confidered as a fair fubjeft of experiment. Diflilled water 

 is an effential ingredient in the compofition of many medi- 

 cines, and often abfolutely necefTary in the profecution of 

 all nicer chemical procefles in the liquid way. Snow and 

 ice water form almoft the conftant drink of the inhabitants 

 of cold climates during winter ; and the mafles of ice which 

 float on the polar fcas aff"ord an abundant fupply of frf^fh 

 water to the mariner. " Snoiv-vi^Xcr," fays Dr. Sauiiat"S, 

 " has long lain under the imputation of occafioning thofe 

 ftrumous fwellings in the neck which deform the inhabitants 

 of many of the Alpine valleys ; but this opinion is not fup- 

 ported by any well-authenticated indifputablc facts, and is 

 rendered ftill more improbable, if not entirely overturned, 

 by the frequency of the difeafe in Sumatra, where ice and 

 i"now are never feen, and its being quite unknown in Chili and 

 12 



Thibet, though the rivers of thofe countries are chiefly lup- 

 plied by the melting of the fnow with which the mountains 

 are always covered." Dew, efpecially when collefted in the 

 month of May, was formerly in great repute as a cofmetic, 

 and for many other purpofes ; but its ufe has been long en- 

 tirely laid afide. Spring-^dXen, as before obferved, from 

 the air they contain, and from their grateful coolnefs, con- 

 ftitute by far the moft agreeable of the potable waters, and 

 are in more general ufe than any others. Their ufe, how- 

 ever, is ftated fometimes to occafion in delicate ftomachs an 

 uneafy fenfe of weight, followed by a degree of dyfpepfia. 

 They have alfo been accufed, efpecially when of the de- 

 fcription termed hard, of inducing calculous affeftions ; but 

 this notion by moft modern writers is confidered as ill- 

 founded. Spring-Wiiters, in general, alfo, from their pro- 

 perty of hardnefs, are, as before obferved, very ill adapted 

 for many domeftic and other purpofes ; while, in particular 

 inftances, this quality is of advantage. Hird/pring-wdAers, 

 for example, are very ill adapted for the purpofes of the 

 dyer or bleacher. " On the other hand," fays Dr. Saunders, 

 " there are feveral faline fubftances vifhich are very readily 

 foluble in any kind of water, and here a hard water may be 

 employed when the objeft is only to procure thefe particu- 

 lar falts. For culinary purpofes, water is ufed either to foften 

 the texture of animal or vegetable matter, or to extradl 

 from it, and prefent in a liquid form fome of its foluble parts. 

 Soft pure water will fulfil both thefe objects better than hard 

 water ; and at the fame time the colour of the fubftance em- 

 ployed will vary as well as its folution. Green vegetables 

 and pulfe are rendered quite pale, as well as tender, by boil- 

 ing in foft water ; whereas in a hard water, the colour is more 

 preferved, and the texture lefs altered, becaufe in the former 

 cafe the colouring matter of the vegetable is readily extraft- 

 ed by the menftruum, whilft in the latter more of it remains, 

 and is likewife altered by the chemical aftion of the earthy 

 or neutral falts." Dr. S. then relates fome comparative 

 experiments he made with hard and pure water upon 

 tea ; from which he concludes that hard water is lefs pow- 

 erful in foftening the texture of vegetable leaves than foft 

 water, and that it is not able to exert its fuU effeft in 

 heightening their colour till affifted by heat ; and alfo, that 

 the gallic acid (or tannin) is equally well extracted by hard 

 as by foft water, when by raifing the temperature, the 

 power of the former as a folvent is fully exercifed. It may 

 be therefore laid down as a general rule in domeftic economy, 

 that when the objeft is to extraft the virtues of any fub- 

 ftance, and to retain them in folution, foft waters ftiould be 

 ufed ; but that when the objeft is the reverfe, or to preferve 

 as entire as poflible the article ufed as food, hard waters are 

 preferable. 



Some fine fprings of very pure and foft water have been 

 long celebrated for their medicinal properties ; as, for ex- 

 ample, the Mal'vern fprings, in Worcefterfhire, and St. 

 Winifrid's Well, at Holywell, in Flintfhire. Malvern 

 water is ufed both externally and internally. Externally 

 applied, it. is ftated to be a moft ufeful application to deep- 

 felted ulcerations of a Icrofulous nature, and to various 

 cutaneous affections. Its inte.nal ufe is often of advantage 

 "in painful affefti<j.",s of I'le kidneys and bladder, attended 

 with the di 'charge of bloody, purulent, or fcEtid urine ; the 

 hcftic fever produced by fcrofulous ulcerati^^ns of the 

 lungs, or very e.itenllve and irritating fores on the furface of 

 the body ; and alfo fiftulas of long ftanding, that have been 

 neglefted, and have become conftant and tro iblefome fores." 

 The internal ufe of this water fometimes induces naufea at 

 firft, and occafionally drowfinefs, vertigo, and head-ache, 

 which foon go off', or may be readily removed by a mild 



purgative. 



