CHAP. IV.

Of Waters of strange Nature and Effects.

ALL springs of waters are actually either hot or cold. Of those hot springs, some are of so excessive heat, that a man would think, it were water boiling upon the fire; and amongst others there is a vein of it running under a street, in a village, called Porcet, near the city of Akin in Germany. In the middle of this street, there is a hole, which they call Hell, with three or four bars of iron over it, in which the neighbours round about, in the summer-time, when they have no fire, do use to seethe their eggs, letting them down with a net into the water, and in a small space of time they may be boiled hard; of which I was twice an eye-witness, being there first in the year 1610, after the siege of Gulick, and the yielding of the town to the states, with that brave soldier, Sir Horace Vere, now Lord of Tilbury; and the second time, with that worthy Knight, Sir Henry Palmer, now comptroller of the navy. The cause of those hot waters is commonly ascribed to mines of sulphur or brimstone, inflamed within the bowels of the earth. But few of those hot waters, as at Akin, Porcet, in the Pyrenean Mountains, at Bath in Somersetshire, and elsewhere, have any great or extraordinary taste of brimstone, as they should of necessity have, if brimstone melted, and burning, were the cause of their heat, that mineral being of so piercing a nature, and of so extensive a faculty, that never so little of it burning upon a few coals, when our women dry their tiffanies, filleth a whole room, with the strong scent of it. Besides, such a great quantity of water running continually, and so many years and ages together, had long since extinguished those fires; or, if there were such flames, within the bowels of the earth, the same would long ago have dried up the water, and reduced the earth into ashes. Another reason there is, that you shall find no hot springs, where fires do break out; and, though the hill Vesuvius and Mount Etna burn continually, yet are there no hot springs about them, though they be environed by the sea. And for all the late wonderful and extraordinary eruption of fire out of the said hill Vesuvius, or Monte de Soma, as they call it now, which hath been so violent, that the houses of Naples, which are eight, or, as others say, twelve miles from the same, were all covered very thick, with the ashes thereof; yet, do they not write that the water, which gushed out, at the foot of the said hill, was hot.

Besides, although there be many hot waters in Italy (for those that have written of them reckon few less than threescore) yet shall you see, no where, a mixture of fire and water in those parts; which makes me think with some, that the cause of the heat of those waters proceedeth from their motion and agitation in the bowels of the earth, falling from cataracts and broken concavities in the same.

That this may be true, it may be proved by the sea, for, though

it be actually cold, yet, if it be tossed by a tempest, but of three or four days (and it is seldom, that a storm lasteth longer) the water thereof will sometimes become very hot. Besides we have many very sulphureous springs, which are never but cold; as for example, one of the four springs used at the Spa, called Geronster, which tasteth so strong of the brimstone, as myself can speak by experience, that divers of those, who drink of it, are constrained to hold their noses, whilst they are drinking, and the sulphureous fumes of it are so piercing, that they do speedily intoxicate the brain, and cause drunkenness, though it be but for a little time, being soon discussed away.*

Now, for the other springs, which are actually cold, there are sundry differences of them, according to the several substances they do run through, and the nature and effects of some of them are very admirable. Some do turn into stone whatsoever is cast into them, especially, if the things cast in be of a loose and porous substance, as leather, balls, gloves, and such like; and Pliny and others describe divers springs of that nature.

But, not to go out of this island for examples, there is a spring of that nature in Wales, in a piece of ground belonging to Sir Thomas Middleton; and the quick activity of some of those springs is wonderful, and almost incredible; for Bodinus, Lib. ii. Theat. Nat. doth affirm, That he hath seen sticks of wood, straws, and such like small things, converted into stone, in Lacu Piceno & Alliensi fonte Avernorum, within the space of two or three hours. So that Pliny's assertion, who, in Lib. xxxv, c. 13, saith, that earth is turned into stone, in a fountain of Guidus, within the space of eight months, is no more to be wondered at. The same author, namely Pliny, in Lib. xxxi, c. 2, maketh mention of two fountains, the one called Cerone, which maketh the sheep, that drink of it, to bear black Wool; and the other Melan, which maketh the wool of the sheep which drink of it white, and, if they drink of both, their wool will become of two colours: another, called Crathis, which procureth whiteness, and of a fourth, called Sybaris, which causeth blackness in the sheep and oxen which drink of the same. Nay, the same effect is seen also in men, which drink of them, for those that drink of Sybaris become blacker, harder, and of a curled hair; and such as drink of Crathis wax whiter, softer, and of a smooth hair, He bringeth in also other waters, which have the like effect, in changing the colour of such as use them. He saith likewise, that there are two springs in Boeotia, near the river of Orchomenus, whereof, the one strengtheneth memory, and the other causes oblivion. A fountain in Arcadia, called Linus, preserveth conception, and hindereth

And of

Since the writing of this Treatise, and when I was come to London, about the printing it, I lighted by chance upon Dr. Jordan's learned and elaborate discourse, of Natural Baths and Mineral Waters, wherein he hath a peculiar opinion, concerning the actual heat of mineral waters, which he ascribeth to the fermentation of minerals, and illustrateth the same, with reasons and examples. I am so far from disliking it, that I applaud it, and leave both his and my opinion to the choice of the reader; tor, in those abstruse things, we have no certain knowledge, but only probable conjectures. Howsoever, the least probable of these two opinion is far more likely, than those imaginary actual fires, which the vulgar opinion holdeth.

abortion; and on the other side, the river, called Amphrysus, maketh women barren. Cydnus, a river of Cilicia, helpeth the gout in the feet, as appeareth by the Epistle of Cassius Parmensis, to Marcus Antonius; and contrariwise, by the use of the water, All such which is in Træzene, all men get the gout in their feet. as drink of a Lake, called Clitorius, begin thereby to hate wine. Polyclitus relateth, that the water of a fountain in Cilicia serveth instead of oil; and Theophrastus, That the like is done by the water of a spring in Æthiopia; and Lycus, That the water of a fountain in India burneth in a lamp; the like is also at Ecbatana. Juba speaketh of a lake amongst the Troglodytes, which, for the hurt it doth, is called the Mad Lake, and saith, That it is bitter and salt thrice in a day, and then fresh, and so again at night. The same author also maketh mention of spring in Arabia, which bubbleth up with such force, that it casteth forth whatsoever is thrown into it, though it be never so weighty. There are two fountains in Phrygia, the one, called Clæon, and the other Gelon, having those Greek names from their effects; for the first maketh men cry, and the second makes them laugh. There is an hot spring at Cranon, and yet without excessive heat, which being mingled with wine, and kept in a vessel, keepeth the same hot by the space of three days. There is a river in Bithynia, called Olachas, into which, if perjured persons be thrown, they feel as much heat as if they were in a flaming fire. In Cantabria, there are three springs, but eight feet asunder, which running together make a goodly river, and every one of them by turns becometh dry twelve times, and sometimes twenty times a day, so that a man would think, there were no more water in it, whilst in the mean time its next neighbours be full, and flow continually. There is In Mace. a brook in Judea, which is dried up every Sabbath. donia, not far from the Sepulchre of Euripides, there are two brooks running together, the one having very wholesome water; and the other, poisonous and deadly. Quod si quis, saith Pliny, Lib. xxxi, c. 2, fide carere ex his aliqua arbitratur, discat in nulla parte naturæ majora esse miracula. If any man think, that some of these things are past belief, let him learn that there are no greater miracles in any other part of nature, than in waters. But if any man desire to know more, concerning the various nature and effects of springs and rivers, let him read the thirteenth dialogue of Simon Majolus, Bishop of Vultuaria, in that Tome of his works, which he intitleth, Dies Caniculares; and there he will find wherewith to satisfy his curiosity. I pass now to mineral and medicinal springs, which use to be drank.

CHAP. V.

Of Mineral and Medicinal Springs.

MINERAL waters, by their manifold turnings and windings under the ground, are, as it were, impregnated with divers virtues

and faculties of the several minerals through which they run, and draw with them either the faculties or substance of the same, and sometimes both; and, therefore, as mere pureness commendeth ordinary springs and wells, so doth the various mixture of several things, though sometimes of a contrary and repugnant nature, procure commendation to medicinal waters. Some of them are beholden, for whatsoever they have, to the several kinds of earth, which they pass through, and lick, as it were, by the way; as, bole, oker, rubrick, chalk, and the like: Others to liquors, or congealed juices; as, allom, bitumen, brimstone, nitre, and copperas: And others, again, to metals; as, gold, silver, iron, cop. per, tin, and lead. There are some also which owe their virtues to stone, as chrystal, marble, pumice-stone, Lapis Hæmatites, and the like; and others to the roots of trees and plants; though these are rare, either because trees do not root so deep, or by reason that medicinal springs are commonly in barren soils; as, on the contrary, wheresoever there is a fruitful soil, there are no mineral or medicinal springs to be found. Out of all these subterraneous substances divers springs draw sometimes contrary faculties, or, at least, such as have but small affinity one with another; and from hence it happeneth, that oftentimes one and the same medicinal spring cureth divers diseases, which are either contrary one to another, or, at least, have but small affinity together. It is of this as it is of theriack or mithridate, which are compositions consisting of a great number of simples, of contrary and repugnant natures, as it were, huddled together by chance; and yet, when those compositions have had their due fermentation, and those several simples have wrought one upon another, and become incorporated together, there resulteth afterwards an universal form in the composition, which maketh it excellent for most diseases, and, as it were, a general Panpharmacon; and, in that regard, some do merrily call mithridate the father, and treacle the mother of all medicines. But, that we may the more accurately distinguish betwixt mineral springs, we must consider the nature of minerals, and look which of them have affinity together, and which not. Bitumen, salt, sulphur, copperas, and copper are hot, and there, fore they have a faculty to cut, cleanse, open, dry, extenuate, and disperse. Albertus Magnus, Lib. v. de Metallicis, and after him, Andernacus and others do reckon sal nitrum with these, and hold it to be hot; which might be granted them, if, by nitrum, they understood that nitrum, whereof Hippocrates, Lib. i. de acr. Locis & Aquis; Dioscorides, Lib. v. c. 89. Pliny, Lib. xxxi. c. 10. and Galen, Lib. ix. Simp. Medicam. do speak: But I do not think, that either Albertus or Andernacus ever saw it, because it began to be scanty, and hard to be found, in the time of those ancient authors, before-cited after Hippocrates. But our saltpetre, which is now called nitrum amongst us, is as far from that ancient nitrum,

Quantum Hipanis Veneto dissitus Eridano,

For, if gunpowder were not enough to prove the coldness of nitrum, in which its opposition and contrariety to brimstone is so manifest, yet were the sal prunelle of the chymists (which is nothing but nitrum purified from its dregs with flores sulphuris) sufficient to evince it, a very little of it, put into a glass of wine, making it so cold, that one is scarce able to drink it. And to this purpose, I remember, that, when I was in Holland, the Prince of Orange, Maurice, was wont always, in the summer-time, to have some of it thrown into the water, where his wine lay a cooling. That sal prunelle also is the best remedy against the heat, dryness, and roughness of the tongue in all fevers, and especially in that Hungarian fever, called Prunella, from that symptom, which gave likewise the name of sal prunelle to that purified nitrum, by reason of the excellency of it in asswaging the same. And, the more to confirm this, one of the four springs of the Spa, called Tounelet, and consisting chiefly of nitrum, is so very cold, both in the mouth and in the stomach, that few can endure it, and in that regard it is very little frequented; and, during my stay there, I do not remember that ever I saw at it more than a capuchin friar, and another clergyman, who used it for the heat of their livers, in which case it may do good, if the stomach be not too weak.

Silver, iron, tin, and lead are accounted cold, and, by reason of their astringency, to be at least in the second degree. Gold is likewise placed amongst these, though a man might, perhaps, with better right account it temperate. Now, in regard of this variety, some springs are called Nitrous, Sulphureous, Bituminous, Aluminous, &c. according to the only or predominant mineral, of which they do participate. But yet some there are, in which it is a very difficult matter to know the same: So the Uberlingunians in Sweden do dispute, to this day, whether their mineral springs proceed from lead, or copper. In like manner, the Italians are not well agreed, whether the virtue of the mineral water about Lucca cometh from iron, or from allom. And a great man, that was one of the chiefest chymists of this age, doubted whether he should call the empsenses aquæ Aluminous, or Nitrous: So hard a thing it is exactly to distinguish in things that are com pounded and permixed. But it is now time we should go to Tun bridge Water.

CHAP. VI.

Of Tunbridge Water.

THE waters, commonly known here amongst us by the name of Tunbridge Waters, are two small springs contiguous together, about four miles southward from the town of Tunbridge in Kent, from which they have their name, as being the nearest town in Kent to them. They are seated in a valley, compassed about with stony hills, so barren, that there groweth nothing but heath upon the