3? N A ÆiU R A L H I S T .0 R Y
by that quality only; the cold by bracing up thevnervés airM intfcles,
and ftrengthening the glands, promotes. fedretion and circulation,
the two great minifters qf health. In the northern kingdoms they
are fo fenfible that all extraordinary defkxions of humours a-^oj^ing
■ to too great a relaxation of-, the' parts, tharithey keep;. eaffiffiMyfrhe
water of fhow gathered in March, and apply it as a general rembdy
for moft difeafes: but the common people '(of this -as wfelh as Mother
countries) will not be contented to attribute the benefit they receive to
prdinaiy means ; there muft be .fomethpig marvellous- in all-their
cures. I happened luckily-to be> at this Well -upon therikft day<%f
the yes« oh which (according tprfhe vulgar opinion) it. exerts its
principal and. moft falutary powers r two]woraen were1 hère who
came from a neighbouring parifh, and were bufily employed in bathing
a child ; they , both afthred me, that people who< had ai mind to
receive any benefit from St. EunyVWellyi muft come and waffi upofi
the three, firft Wednefdays in May. ButnorieaveffiollyAtob its. own
delufion, it is certainly veryr gracious im-Providfence' - to ' ’.diftribute a
remedy for fo many diforders in a quality fo univerfally fbundïâSKcald
is in every unmixed Well-water. j” *
Holy WeD. Another Well of this plain kind, !andrdf no little •rejbfVMs
that called Holywell, about a mile mid half to-the^oMi Wefbof
St. duthbert’s Church, in a final! fandy bay : where, there'are feyetal
caves wrought into the cliff :
caves, at the north-eaftem point of 'the bay, ’i t lime- fcrd^'W^à high
cliff is this Wei! The entrance is low,-"|but by the helppf fome
fteps cut into the rock, you afcend-about*fifteen feet perpendicular;
where the water which diftils from.èveiy‘part.-o f the roof is cfol-
leded into a little bafon, from whence proceeds a final! rill about
the bignefs of a reed. As the Wàter .péfcolàtès through the
terftices o f clay and ftone, it brings down with it dome of the -finer
parts of both, which form into.* foams and ridges eorrefpondent-to
the fiffures through which they proceed ; fome fhort mammillary
ftalactites hang from the roof ; the floor of . the rock,: on which you
tread, is covered with the fame fubftancef and asI the -rock is
fhelving, the incruftations are fo many wavy procédés-covering the
unevennefs of the rock. I mention thefe particulars the rather
becaufe fuch productions of the alabafter kind are extreamly fcarce
in Cornwall, and I have yet feen none worth notice but here. The
water is much commended in fluxes, and diforder d bowels. Upon
trying this water, I found that with green tea it altered not it’s
colour; with milk it curdled not; fo that it has neither fteel
nor alum in it’s compofition. I evaporated it to one half, no
pellicle appeared, nor any cryftallized fhoots on it s cooling ; fo
that it has no acid faits; but it depofited a fmall fediment of the
fame
fame colour and fubftance with the calcarious incruftations of the
well. I therefore in the next place pulveriz’d fome of the incruftations’
brought from the well: Upon burning them over the fire
they did not melt; had no particular tafte or finell: Upon throwing,
fome of the powder into, the. fire, concluding that i f there
were any .fulphur in it the flame would have turn’d blue, it had no
vifible effeét:, I put a red-hot iron to it, but it fent forth-neither
finoke nor feent. Upon the whole, this water appeared Ample
and unimpregnated; nothing but the . earth, which forms , the calcarious
coverings of the roof and .floor of :the. cave appearing in it.
But when I fay there-is no. fteel, no . alum, no acid falts .or. fulphur,
to afibrt, that them is nothing
of that kiud; I inean only, that there is not any one o f thefe vifrbly
predominant; for Nature mixes and qualifies her ingredients inimitably
and infcrutably. We may poffitively affirm, that fuch and
fuch ingredients are to be found unqueftionably. in Waters; but
others may be alfo there in a . quantity to us indifcoverable; and
-therefore we caiïnot abfolutely affirm, that in any Water there is
no fuch fait, fteel, fulphur, or the like., k<
| In Cornwall thére is a great number of thole Waters, which,
froift their principal ingredient, are called Chalybeate. The ftrongeft
Water of this kind, and moft remarkable for its cures, which I have
heard tóf, or had the opportunity of examining, is that which riles
Mg the tenement of Colurian in the Parifh of Ludgvan. T h e bed
through which this Water flows, is a loofo pebbly ground, with
a gravelly clay, full of the ochrous iron mineral, from which the
tafte and fiftell of the Water proceeds. Upon trying it feveral times
with galls, it turned a deep reddifh purple; with green tea, a lighter
purple ; with oak leaves, a Blue-black of a purple caft. Upon
pouring two thimbles full of fpiiit of vitriol into half a pint, it made
but a finall effervefcence. I let the Water with the galls only Hand
fbr fome time, and it retained its purple and transparency; whereas,
i f it had turned black and turbid, as fome Waters d o ", that would
-have been a difadvantageous fymptom. Upon dropping gently a
large thimble full of fyrup of violets, about three fourths o f an inch
of the Mineral Water, towards the top of the glafs, kept its ufiial
colour; the middle part turned to a pale grecnifh yellow, which
reached to within half an inch of the bottom; and the remainder
was of a light purple : but upon ftirring it, after it had flood half
an hour, the whole became a deep green. Upon dropping a thimble
full of oil of tartar, it fell (immediately to the bottom of the
( k Shaw on Mineral and Iflington Waters, page 227.
K ■ ' glafs,
SECT. IX.
Of Mineral
aters.