WATER. 



waters ; each of which varieties may be either tepid or 

 warm. 



a. Thermal waters fimply faline are very rare. Their 

 properties can in no refpeS be fuppofed to differ from cold 

 faline waters raifed to the fame temperature. Sea-water, 

 therefore, heated artificially, is a good example of this 

 variety. It is generally ufed externally as a bath. See 

 Bathing. 



b. A good example of the acidulo-chalybeate thermal 

 waters we have in the fprings of Carlfbad. For a full ac- 

 count of the chemical properties of thefe fprings, fee 

 Carlsbad. 



c. The celebrated waters of Aix-la-Ghapelle, or Aken, 

 afford a good example of the fulphureous thermal waters. 

 See Aix-la-Chapelle. 



With refpedl to the medicinal properties of the compound 

 thermal waters, they have all been in much repute as baths, 

 which was, perhaps, the original mode in which the two laft 

 varieties in particular were employed. In later times, they 

 have been much ufed internally. The difeafes, fays Dr. 

 Saunders, to the cure of which the internal ufe of Carlfbad 

 waters are applicable, are as various as the nature of their 

 foreign contents ; and from the union of feveral valuable 

 qualities in one water, it may be made ufe of in cafes of very 

 oppofite natures, without incurring the cenfure of employing 

 it indilcriminately as an univerfal medicine. In common 

 with the other purgative chalybeates, it is found to be emi- 

 nently ferviceable in dyfpepfia and other derangements of 

 the healthy aftion of the ftomach, in obftruftions of 

 the abdominal vifcera, not connected with great organic 

 difeafe, and in defeft or depravation of the bihary fecretion. 

 It is alfo of ufe in calculous affeftions, and is highly efteemed 

 for reftoring the uterine fyftem to a healthy ftate. The 

 fame precautions againft its internal ufe in plethoric and 

 irritable habits, and thofe who are fubjeft to hxmoptyfis, or 

 liable to apoplexy, require to be obferved here as with any 

 of the other aftive thermal waters. The Aix-la-Chapelle 

 waters, taken internally, are likewife found effentially fer- 

 viceable in the numerous fymptoms of diforders in the 

 ftomach and biliary organs, that follow a life of high indul- 

 gence in the luxuries of the table. It alfo much relieves 

 painful affeftions of the kidneys and bladder. The fame 

 precautions in its ufe are to be attended to, as thofe above- 

 mentioned refpefting the Carlfbad waters. For the ex- 

 ternal ufes of thofe waters, fee Bathing, and the articles 

 Cahlsbad and Aix-la-Chapelle, before referred to. 



Our readers will readily perceive, from the above fy He- 

 matic fltetch, that the infinite variety which exifls among 

 mineral waters abfolutely precludes a perfed arrangement of 

 them : we truft, however, that no mineral water can occur 

 which may not be referred to one or other of the above 

 heads or their fubdivifions, without any great facrifice of 

 our principles of arrangement ; and, confequently, whofe 

 general medicinal properties cannot be eftimated with tole- 

 rable accuracy a priori horn its chemical compofition. 



On the general Ufes of Water in a dietetic and medicinal Point 

 of View. — No organic procefs nor interchange of elements 

 can be fuppofed to take place without the intervention of a 

 fluid ; organized beings, therefore, contain a large propor- 

 tion of fluid in their compofition, through the medium of 

 which that endlefs feries of changes, effential to their exift- 

 ence, is principally effefted. The bafis of this fluid is uni- 

 verfally water, which of all other fluids is the mofl emi- 

 nently fitted for difTolving and holding in folution every 

 variety of animal and vegetable matter. See Food of Plants. 

 In animals, the firft great flep in the feries of vital pro- 

 ceiles is digejlion; and here nature appears to render the pre- 



fenceof a fluid particularly neeeffary, in order, as it were, to 

 infure for herfelf a fufficiency for her future operations. 

 Accordingly, we find that all animals inftinftively take in a 

 certain proportion of fluid, either in the form of fimple 

 water, or fucculent food. Man alone is the only animal 

 accuflomed to fvvallow unnatural drinks, or to abufe thofe 

 which are natural ; and this is the fruitful fource of a great 

 variety of his bodily and mental evils. 



We know little of the intimate nature of the digellive 

 procefs, but we know that it is chiefly eft'eded by means of 

 a highly animalized fluid fecreted by th? ftomach itfelf. 

 Now this important fluid, by drinking too little or too 

 mucii, or by other caufes, may be rendered too concentrated 

 or too dilute for the due performance of its operations ; and 

 dyfpepfia, and all its confequences, may thus enfue from ha- 

 bitual errors in the quantity of drink only. The remedy in 

 fuch cafes is obvious, and confifls perhaps in nothing more 

 than in duly regulating the quantity of watery aliment, as 

 dictated by inftinft, or the feiifation of thiift only. 



An eminent modern phyfiologift recommends to abftain 

 from drinking during meals, and for fome time afterwards ; 

 and as a general rule, this may, perhaps, be proper, fince a 

 healthy ftomach may be fuppofed to be always able to fecrete 

 fluid enough for its own immediate operations : there can be 

 no doubt, however, but many exceptions to this rule may be 

 met with, arifing either from the nature of the food or 

 condition of the ftomach, in which moderate dilution is not 

 only grateful but falutary. 



With refpeft to the choice of water as an article of diet, 

 (for our readers will underftand that we fpeak of water only 

 in this place, ) thofe which are hard and impure have long 

 lain under the imputation of producing calculous affeftious ; 

 and we have good authority for ftating, that, in many iii- 

 ftances, the ufe of fuch waters aftually increafes the painful 

 fymptoms of thefe diftrefling complaints. It is not perhaps 

 an eafy tafli to explain this, fince, with the exception of lime, 

 the fubftances found in hard waters never enter into the 

 compofition of calcuh : their operation, therefore, muft be 

 rather of a predifpofing nature, and is probably exerted upon 

 the organs of digeftion, which are well known to be inti- 

 mately connefted with the kidney. A faA which renders 

 this opinion the more probable is, that hard waters are often 

 pofitively noxious to irritable ftomachs,by inducing dyfpepfia. 

 In fhort, pure water, as we formerly obferved, muft obvioufly 

 be much better adapted for the important purpofes of dilu- 

 tion and folution, than water already faturated as it were 

 with foreign fubftances ; and upon this principle may pror 

 bably be fatisfaAorily explained the good effefts of Malvern 

 and other waters, whofe only chara&eriftic property is, 

 their remarkable degree of purity. 



In a medicinal point of view, the ufe of water as a diluent 

 is moft important ; and, as Dr.Si'i nders juftly obferves, the 

 long lift of ptifans, decoftions, &c. ufually prefcribed by 

 phyficians in acute difeafes, owe their virtues almofl entirely 

 to the watery diluent itfelf. 



The inftindlivc defires or averfions, continues the fame 

 eminent writer, of perfons labouring under any fpecies of 

 difordered funftions, have been juftly confidered as deferr- 

 ing the higheil attention from the phyfician, and in moft 

 cafes will furnidi him with ufeful hints for his treatment of 

 the patient. In acute difeafes, the thirft after water is pe- 

 cuHarly remarked as a charafteriftic fymptom, and is a 

 direft inftinftive indication of increafed heat and want of 

 dilution ; and this is fo uniform, that the degree of fever 

 may often be pretty well eftimated by the eagernefs of the 

 fufferer after cold drink. The benefits arifing from large 

 dilution in acute difeafes, however, are not confined to the 



mere 



