ARSENIC IN DRINKING WATER. 
169 
many other sources in the neighbourhood of Whitbeck, where 
decomposing granite is of common occurrence, has an alkaline 
reaction. A large and deep pool in the course of Whitbeck 
towards the sea shows the colour of the water to be a rich, 
clear, greenish blue. 
The water, on examination, gave distinct indications of the 
presence of arsenic. This element, which here probably 
exists as an alkaline arsenic, occurs not as a mere trace, but in 
determinable quantity. I have not yet ascertained the 
amount present, but hope to do so shortly, when I have 
obtained specimens of the water collected at different seasons 
of the year. I have satisfied myself, however, that in some 
seasons of the year the quantity present approaches a good 
fraction of a grain of arsenic (metallic) in each gallon of 
water. At the same time I am desirous of furnishing com¬ 
plete analyses of some interesting minerals obtained from the 
vicinity of the spring. For on ascending the gulley, a few' 
yards above the source of Whitbeck, we arrive at the entrance 
to a mine, which, some years ago, was worked for cobalt and 
copper, and is now again being searched. Here I obtained 
very rich and massive, silver-white, arsenical cobalt ore, and 
also copper pyrites. The neighbourhood for some miles is, in 
fact, rich in minerals. Dr. Fidler writes: “Almost immediately 
behind Whitehaven Parsonage a sulphur vein crops out, a 
continuation of the same vein that is being worked at Under 
Hill, but whether it exists in any quantity I do not know. 
There are three or four copper veins in a ravine behind White¬ 
haven Mill, one of which has been tried some twelve or 
fifteen fathoms below the surface.” Baryta, also, has been 
found, I am told, above the source of Whitbeck in the mine 
above mentioned. 
It will be seen that the arsenic in the water of Whitbeck 
is thus most probably derived from the veins of arsenical 
cobalt ore through which it percolates. 
The arsenical water is habitually used for every purpose by 
the inhabitants of the little village of Whitbeck, and, as far 
as I can learn, with beneficial rather than injurious results. 
But it|is remarkable that Whitbeck, though in every respect 
suitable for trout, is the only stream in the neighbourhood 
from which that fish is absent; eels, however, have been 
found in it. Ducks will not live if confined to this arsenical 
water. When the railway was being carried past Whitbeck, 
the first use of the water quickly produced the usual marked 
effect on the throats both of the men and horses employed 
on the works. The soreness of mouth from which they at 
first suffered soon, however, disappeared, and in the horses 
