The Chalybeate Spas (so called) of the Bournemouth 
Cliffs. 
By G. Brownen, F.C.S. 
Read before the Physical Section, April 10th, 1913. 
npHE subject note brought before our Section and the Bourne- 
mouth Natural Science Society is one of great local interest 
and closely connected with economic and scientific problems, such 
as the disintegration of local rocks, crumbling cliffs, and moving 
foreshores. Our purpose in this paper is a physical or chemical 
one — of course by chalybeate spas we mean such springs that issue 
from the soil containing iron derived from the strata either 
shallow or deep. Such ferruginous waters may contain iron in one 
of three conditions—i Ferrous, 2 Ferric, or 3 in a more complex 
union with other salines. The Bournemouth cliff spas seem to 
begin as class 1 quickly pass into 2 or 3 and deposit and dis¬ 
appear, indicating that the springs are not true permanent spas 
at all. Deep or shallow wells sunk within the Bournemouth area 
have not as a rule proved of chalybeate character, but when we 
approach the coast lines subject to marine influences at various 
points between Durley Chine and Hengistbury, cliff springs con¬ 
taining notable proportions of iron in solution have been found, 
and it is with this fact that we are now dealing. 
Our personal investigations of these peculiar waters date 
back to 1877 and were intermittent, but in the ’80’s we supplied 
Dr. H. Dobell with some notes for his work on-‘‘ Bournemouth 
and its surroundings ” (9. v.). Our notes and recollections of past 
investigations begin near Durley Chine on the western side of 
Bournemouth. Near the entrance to this ravine was one of 
these springs with a perceptible styptic taste—it was found to 
contain iron in Ferrous and Ferric conditions, and the stains of 
Ferric Hydrate marked the water course towards the shore. At 
or somewhere near the present zig-zag on the cliff lines was 
