1856.] Examinations of Mineral Waters. 193 



have been loDg known to the natives, though only so recently tried by 

 Europeans. But this one, so tried, has been preferred for its proxi- 

 mity and accessibility and sheltered site, the last being a material 

 point with reference to the chief element of the curative process, or 

 frequent bathing in the waters, at as high a temperature as the 

 patient can endure. 



" Minchu" is a compound word meaning in the language of the 

 country " medicine- water," and as the term is both euphonic and 

 appropriate, it should be at once adopted as the designation of the 

 Darjeeling baths. 



" A gentleman here has made purchase of the ground and is erect- 

 ing a temporary house of three apartments within a few yards of the 

 spot where the mineral water issues from beneath a huge block of 

 gneiss. A philanthropic gentleman of the station had previously 

 erected a similar building for the accommodation of bathers ; this 

 building being now devoted entirely to the bath, consists of three 

 rooms. 



" The distance from Darjiling is about five miles by the very good 

 road already constructed. The elevation as yet untested by baro- 

 meter or boiling water may nevertheless be safely said, by reason 

 of the vegetation proper to the spot and the temperature, to be about 

 3,500 to 4,000 feet above the sea, due allowance being made for the 

 extra heat generated by the rocky soil, sheltered position and eastern 

 aspect. 



" The water, still unanalysed, is void of all sapid or sensible proper- 

 ties. It has no heat, no taste, no smell. But the deep dye of rusty 

 red with which it speedily incrusts stone and wood, proves it to be 

 full of iron. It is to be hoped that Dr. W. O'Shaughnessy on his 

 way through Calcutta will find time for an analysis, which it is to be 

 hoped we shall soon obtain. This wonderfully efficacious remedy for 

 so many of the ills that flesh is heir to, is as mild as patent in its action. 

 In the slighter cases of debility,deranged liver and what not,it suffices 

 to drink the water at Darjeeling without the necessity of resort to 

 the Minchu. But in more serious cases such resort is indispensable 

 for the purpose of bathing. The waters may be drank cold or tepid, 

 but for bathing it must be used heated, and as hot as the patient can 

 bear, and as often, if he desire a very speedy cure. But such overhaste 



