224 
THE VANGE MINERAL WATER. 
By JOHN C. THRESH, M.D., D.Sc., Erc. 
HE mineral water which has recently sprung into notoriety 
escaped the attention of the writers when preparing the 
Geological Survey Memoir on the water supply of Essex. Some 
20 years ago, Mr. E. Cash, having purchased the Vange Hall 
Estate, which is all on the London Clay, noticed that at one spot 
the ground was always moist. He collected a little of the water, 
and finding that it had a saline flavour he submitted it to Dr. 
Rideal for analysis. So much sulphate of magnesium, sodium 
and potassium was found uf it that Dr. Rideal pronounced it a 
medicinal water, and Mr. Cash’s experiments upon himself 
and friends led him to think these properties were very valuable 
indeed ; in 1922, some almost miraculous cures being reported, 
certain gentlemen connected with the London Press began to 
enquire into it, and in consequence of their investigations the 
publicity given to the water caused an extraordinary demand. 
The writer went over and obtained a sample of the water and 
Mr. Cash, junior, courteously shewed him the well from which the 
water is raised to the pump-room. It is in a shallow valley 
running nearly north and south down the side of the hill to the 
north of the main road near Vange Church. 
The subsoil here is a heavy loam and yields a little water. 
Samples have been collected from the wells around, varying 
it is said from 14 to 60 feet in depth, and all yield sulphated 
waters. Some, however, have been abandoned, and surface- 
water gains access. Consequently they are more or less polluted 
and the true loam-water diluted. Mr. Cash, however, is con- 
structing his wells so as to prevent the influx of surface-water, 
and there is no other possible source of pollution near the site. 
The loam or clay here is rich in crystals of selenite, and in fissures 
in the clay and in the masses of septaria layers of crystals of 
calcium sulphate abound. In the neighbourhood of the wells 
the clay, thrown out in excavating, dries and becomes covered 
with a white efforescence, which dissolves in water and consists 
chiefly of calcium and magnesium sulphates. 
Sulphated waters are common in Essex throughout the 
whole London Clay area. They all contain calcium and mag- 
nesium sulphates, but comparatively few contain also the cor- 
