Practical observations on mineral waters and baths; with notices of some continental climates, and a reprint (the third) of the Cold-water cure / by Edwin Lee.

Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Practical observations on mineral waters and baths; with notices of some continental climates, and a reprint (the third) of the Cold-water cure / by Edwin Lee. 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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    face of the well of Grenelle, has its origin of infiltration at a distance of from thirty to forty leagues, and at a height of about 100 metres above the soil of Grenelle. It is the same which supplies the artesian wells of Elbeuf, Tours, and Rouen. This current is in fact a subterranean river, as M. Arago calls it. Notwith- standing these springs come from the same source, it is easy to perceive how their temperature may vary, according to the depth to which boring has been re- quisite in each locality. Hence it follows: 1st. That the same reservoir may furnish a soft cold water in certain localities and a minero-thermal water in others, according to the depth and the nature of the soil which it traverses to reach the surface. 2nd. That being once mineralized the water may present in different points of its coui'se chemical differences according to the different strata through which it passes. Such, for instance, is the case with the Vichy water, which must originate from the same source as that of Hauterive, but which, taking a different course, becomes laden with earthy matters which the latter does not contain. The water is, therefore, purer at the last-named place. This is also the case with the waters of Bareges, St. Sauveur, and Cauterets, which to all appearance arise from the same reservoir. 3rdly. That the higher the temperature of a water the more deep must be its source, unless it derives part of its heat from the proximity of a volcano.* Hot springs have in many instances a manifest connexion with volcanic action, which tends to con- firm the above opinion. They usually rise in valleys or mountain localities, and often where there are traces of extinct volcanoes, as for instance at Aix-Ia- Chapelle, the Pyrennean springs, Vichy and Ischia. Can it be laid down as a law, inquires Dr. Gairdner, that thermal waters will not be found in extensive plains remote from mountain ridges? Observation