HERTFORDSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
XXIX 
With reference to these analyses Professor Attfield makes the 
following remarks: — 
“ The water from the waterworks, being obtained from the natural accumu¬ 
lations in the adjacent oolitic limestone, contains a few grains per gallon of the 
substances which the rain always dissolves from such limestone, namely, chalk 
and a little magnesian matter, which give hardness to the water, some saline 
materials of unimportant character, and a trace of organic matter, which, 
though in a somewhat larger proportion than naturally occurs in most non- 
oolitic waters, does not render the water either better or worse for drinking 
purposes. That is to say, if such a proportion of organic matter is demonstrably 
yielded by the Oolite and not by surface impurities, then all experience warrants 
the opinion that its occurrence in the water is without significance and not worth 
noticing. The saline and earthy substances are also too small in quantity to he 
of any sanitary significance. 
“The water from the Ouse at Bedford contains just those calcareous, saline, 
and organic substances which rain would naturally dissolve from the cultivated 
soil characteristic of the part of the county through which that river flows. The 
water is somewhat hard, though only about half the hardness of the water 
pumped from the subjacent oolitic limestone. The saline substances are of no 
moment. The organic matter is not in excessive proportion, especially considering 
that the sample analysed has not been subjected to any process of filtration. On 
the whole the water compares fairly favourably with other river-waters which, 
after due filtration, are used for drinking and other purposes by town populations. 
“ For general manufacturing purposes, for steam raising, and for cleansing 
operations in which soap is used, the river-water is superior to that raised from 
the Oolite at the waterworks; for the river-water contains only about half the 
calcareous and other mineral substances which coat boilers, waste soap with 
production of curd, and otherwise act prejudicially. Only for ale-brewing would 
the water from the rock perhaps be better than that from the river. 
“For general drinking purposes there is little to choose between the waters. 
After thorough filtration the river-water would apparently contain the smaller 
proportion of organic (animal or vegetable) matter; hut, on the other hand, the 
quality of the organic matter in the river-water is the more open to suspicion. 
“Water from the Lower Greensand could be supplied to Bedford, though at 
great cost, from a gathering area a dozen miles away. This water would doubt¬ 
less be far purer (far more free from mineral, vegetable, and animal impurities) 
than either Oolite water or the river-water.” 
In a stone-pit and brickyard near the water-works, sections of 
the Great Oolite limestone, Cornbrash, and Kelloway rock were 
seen, and here Mr. A. G. C. Cameron gave an account of the 
geology of the district. The oldest rocks, he said, which come 
to the surface in Bedfordshire are the Great Oolite limestone and 
clays seen in this pit. The Cornbrash, locally called “pendle-rock,” 
is here only a foot to eighteen inches thick, and is sometimes 
merely a band of yellow clay or rubbly stone, but it is very per¬ 
sistent. Above the Cornbrash the Kelloway rock is seen as soft, 
silty sand, or large cheese-shaped doggers of calcareous sandstone 
embedded in sand. Then comes the great mass of Oxford Clay, 
which has suffered much from denudation, having an irregular 
surface. Here we are at the bottom of it, but in the Ampthill 
tunnel the top bed of clay occurs 200 feet above this, passing 
upwards into a bituminous clay, with Ostrea deltoidea and other 
Kimmeridge Clay forms, before finally passing out of sight beneath 
the picturesquely-wooded heights of the Lower Greensand country 
bordering on Hertfordshire. Beferring then to the superficial 
