The mineral waters of Europe : including a short description of artificial mineral waters / by C.R.C. Tichborne and Prosser James.

Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The mineral waters of Europe : including a short description of artificial mineral waters / by C.R.C. Tichborne and Prosser James. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    THE MINERAL WATERS OF EUROPE. INTRODUCTORY. So much has already been written on mineral waters and spas generally, that the following articles might seem super- fluous. But there is good raison d’etre from at least three or four points of view. The extraordinary commer- cial aspect which the importation of mineral waters has assumed within the last ten to twenty years, and the ever- recurring claims for the patronage of the profession for new importations, renders it necessary to discover how far the so-called genuine spa waters represent the original springs. Most of the analyses produced are those which have been issued by the proprietors of the springs, some of them very old and specially selected, and out of date. Now it is well understood that all spring waters are subject to change as regards their chemical composition, and this is much more marked in those waters which are heavily loaded with salts. The loss of carbonic acid gas in the bottled condition will also bring about great changes in the general composition. The natural change which some- times takes place in the water at the fountain head is illustrated by the analyses of Hoffmann and Muspratt, in connection with the Harrogate waters, in which a marked alteration in a certain spring was evinced in a few years. Another reason for the re-examination of the most impor- tant of these mineral waters is the progress which the n