OBSERVATIONS On the Mineral WATERS OF FRANCE Made in the ROYAL ACADEMY Of the SCIENCES By the Sieur DU CLOS Physician in Ordinary to His Most Christian Majesty Now made English VERITAS IN PUTEO LONDON Printed for Henry Faithorne and John Kersey at the Rose in St. Paul's Church-yard 1684. THis Treatise being the Product of that Ingenious Assembly the French Royal Academy of the Sciences and Curious both in Subject and Method has been thought not unworthy to speak the English Tongue It may be hop'd that Our Nation which is so good Natur'd as to imitate sometimes even the Follies of those our Neighbours may hence be excited by a Generous Emulation to a like if not greater Performance in this kind Some may object what is Here done arrives not to the Exactness of Certain Knowledge which tho granted hinders not but such a numerous Collection of faithful Experiments may find a favourable acceptance The Subject Matter lies Dark and Deep in the very Bowels of our Mother Earth and the Great Chain of Causes and Effects is perfectly known only to that All-Wise Being whereon it depends OBSERVATIONS On the Mineral WATERS OF FRANCE Made in the Royal ACADEMY Of the SCIENCES THe Use of Mineral Waters having deservedly obtain'd a great Esteem and Reputation for the Cure of many Chronical and Rebellious Diseases some Physicians have applied themselves to search out by Experiment their Nature and Principles thereby to judge how far they are proper for certain Diseases and the particular Constitution of the Diseased While others have been contented to refer themselves to common Opinions founded on the Observations of some Effects This Matter being subordinate to Physical Speculation the Royal Academy of the Sciences have determined to employ themselves in the Enquiry of the Qualities of those in this Kingdom which are most considerable And till favourable occasion may offer to make Observations at their Springs they have caused these Waters to be brought from several Provinces with much care to examine them in the usual Assemblies of the Naturalists of this Academy The Resolution to proceed herein has not been taken without much consideration the Reasons from the advantage of these Waters for the restoring Health in many Diseases being counterbalanced by those of the Difficulty in knowing the Causes of their Proprieties which depend particularly upon the Mixtures of certain Substances which meet together in their Passages in the Earth or in the Cavities and Interstices of Rocks which are various and many as Vapours Juices Salts Earths c. The greatest part of these substances wherewith Mineral VVaters are impregnateâ— cannot be discern'd and the different Mixture which is made of several together may constitute so great a Number of Kinds of Mineral Waters wholsom or unwholsom that it is impossible to give any knowledge or determination of them all The Waters of the same Springs may at divers times receive considerable Alterations either by new Mixtures or by the Cessation of those which have been formerly made It is not probable that these Waters called Mineral should be produced alone by Mineral Vapours condens'd or that there is in the Earth Mines sufficiently abounding to furnish continually Vapours capable being condens'd to maintain a perpetual Course of these Waters in Springs which dry not But it may be that some Mineral Vapours or Exhalations do mix with common VVaters which traverse the Earths where they meet and are condens'd and that these VVaters are impregnated with their Qualities and of some other Volatile Salts not Concrete elevated in these dry Exhalations or humid Vapours The distinguishing the Qualities of these Exhalations and Vapours is not easy the Diversity of their Principles is very great the Rencounter of their Mixtures is casual the Conditions of the Places thro which they pass and wherein they are retained are not evident and the Alterations which they produce in the Waters wherein they insinuate themselves are not always very manifest There is no less difficulty to know and distinguish the Juices which are mixt with Mineral Waters and particularly those which receive nothing of Concretion and which communicate to these Waters no sensible Quality for these liquid Juices and wholly Volatile pass in distillation with the substance of the Water and are no otherwise manifest than by Effects which simple Water cannot produce The Juices which are call'd Concrete because they are Condensable and Resoluble leave Sediments which render them visible and palpable after the Distillation or Evaporation of the Water wherewith they are mixt But it is difficult to discern their Kinds and Proprieties if they have no resemblance to those which are already known or if they are many conjoin'd The Salts and Earths are the most sensible and most common substances which mix with the Waters of Springs and Wells There is almost no sort of Earth which participates not of some Salt dissoluble in the Waters which pass thro it and the Current of these Waters carries away always some fine Earth This is found the most manifest in these Waters But the knowledg of these Salts and Earths mixt in these Waters is not always so distinct as to determine their Species and make a certain judgment of their Properties There are few Concrete Salts known to us There may be many which have no resemblance with Common Salt Nitre Alum or Vitriol which are the four most common Genders of Concrete Mineral Salts Those whose disposition towards Concretion is not yet compleated and which are yet in Embryo or their first Seminal Being are less distinguishable in that State And those which are more formed and either already Concrete or capable of Concretion by some called Enix that is to say born and come forth out of their Matrixes have not substances Simple and Homogeneous in each kind The Salt which goeth under the Name of Common Salt contains two different Parts mixt together whereof one is Condens'd and Chrystalliz'd thro Cold in a Humid after Evaporation of one part of the Water wherein this Salt hath been dissolv'd the other is not Chrystalliz'd or Condens'd but by a total Evaporation of the remaining Water The former Part is most Sulphurous and by its Sulphureity mixeth with the Sulphurous Salt of Tartar Calcin'd and Dissolv'd by the Moisture of the Air or in common Water without trouble and without Coagulation But the other Part containeth an Acidity which Coagulates in an instant the dissolv'd Salt of Tartar and all other fixt Salts Sulphurous and Nitrous Vitriol which shooteth forth by the Humid Air on Sulphurous Marchasites hath likewise a Succulent part Condensable only by a total Evaporation of its Aqueous Humidity of a taste very Acrimonious of a consistence Unctuous and easily dissoluble by a humid Air which Part is much different from that which first is Condensed and Chrystallized thro Cold in Water wherein this Vitriol hath been dissolved These Chrystals are Pure Acid-Austere Vitriol whence there is precipitated much Mineral Earth by
Water of Hebecrevon near S Lo in L'Election de Carantan This Water being likewise taken in the Spring-time had a Taste manifestly Ferruginous In Evaporation it left very little Sediment which was only a little Ruddish and Saline Earth sticking to the sides of the Vessels Of the Water of Provins The Water of Provins from the Fountain de la Croix being taken at the end of Summer was troubled and of a Ferruginous Taste During Evaporation by a gentle Heat the Surface was covered with many Grey Films distinct from one another There was made a Precipitation of a little subtil Earth of the Colour of Iron-Rust which stuck to the sides of the Vessels which after Evaporation were found lin'd therewith and above this lining of Rust were the Grey Films That part of this Red Earth which stuck uppermost in Circular form was somwhat Brackish and grew moist by the Air and what was lowest toward the bottom of the Vessels was not Brackish and did not grow moist The whole being dry'd and put together weighed only 1 1194. There being pour'd Water upon this Sediment in order to dissolve the Salt which it contain'd and the dissolution being filtrated thro Grey Paper and the greatest part of the Water evaporated there was made a Grey Sediment and the Liquor being pour'd into another Vessel to be still in part evaporated and afterward being expos'd to the Air there was condens'd a little Salt in broad flat Grains having the Taste of Common Salt This Salt had nothing Aluminous nor Vitriolic neither had it resemblance to any thing but that part of Sal-Marine which is Chrystalliz'd thro Cold and in a Humid The Earth of the Sediment of this Water in part dissolv'd in distill'd Vinaigre which it turn'd Yellow Being burnt in the Fire it took a Colour more Brown and seem'd to resemble the Rust of Iron Of the Water of Apougny near Seignelay in Burgundy This Water being taken in the Spring-time was Limpid and of a Ferruginous Taste During Evaporation there were separated Ruddish Earths very Light in Flakes which did swim in the middle of the Water and afterwards stuck to the sides of the Vessels These Earths being dry'd had a little Brackishness and their Quantity was very small Of the Water of Vahls in Dauphiné from the Spring called la Dominique This Water taken in the Month of May did seem very singular and much different from other Ferruginous Waters having somewhat Vitriolic It was Limpid and without Scent but its Taste was Vinous and Styptic like to that of a small White-Wine wherein a little Vitriol is dissolv'd It s Stypticity was strong and disagreeable It took a Black Colour drawing towards Blew with Galls as doth Water wherein English Vitriol hath been dissolv'd It made the Tincture of Tournesole of a Red Purple Colour as doth the said Vitriol but being mixt with the Liquor of Salt of Tartar it made no Precipitation as it doth with Vitriol and the whole Liquor became very Green There was made at the bottom of the Bottles a little Yellowish Sediment as happens in Water wherein there is a Ferruginous Vitriol This Water being put in Alembics to distil by a gentle Heat as soon as it began to become Tepid it lost its first Taste and was no longer Acid but retain'd only a Ferruginous Taste What distill'd in the beginning was Insipid and also what followed and the whole resembled simple Water There remain'd only 1 1000 Greyish Substance which had some resemblance to Vitriol lightly Calcin'd having the Taste but more gentle This Saline substance being dissolv'd in Common Water and mixt with the Liquor of Salt of Tartar became Black as Ink with a certain Precipitation Vitriol doth not make the like Blackness with the Liquor of Salt of Tartar Those who have drunk this Water have found it Heavy on the Stomach and Emetic and that it purgeth downwards and makes their Stools Black The Seventh CLASS Of Cold Waters having a Taste somewhat Aigre or Vinous which participate of Common Salt or have no Salt at all OF this sort were the Waters of Chastelguyon Besse S. Pierre la Trauliére Vernet Chanonat S. Pardoux S. Parise and Rueilly Of the Water of Chastelguyon near Rion in Auvergne This Water taken in the beginning of Spring-time was Limpid but had made some whitish Sediments in the Bottles It s Taste did a little incline to somewhat Aigre and was a little Vinous During Evaporation there were form'd on the Surface White Films very Thick which cover'd it all over but afterwards precipitated to the bottom of the Vessels in thick Scales The Sediment was 1 17◠one Moity whereof was Salt the other Earth This Salt was very Acrimonious and might be compar'd to that part of Sal-Marine which is not Condens'd thro Cold and in a Humid which was known by mixing it with the Liquor of Salt of Tartar which it caus'd to coagulate This Salt being melted in a Crucible on the Fire fum'd and produc'd a Scent of the Spirit of Common Salt The Earth of this Sediment in part dissolv'd in distil'd Vinaigre It contracted somewhat of Brackishness in the Fire and chang'd its Whiteness in a Yellowish Colour Of the Water of Besse near Mont d' Or in Auvergne This Water taken at the beginning of the Spring-time was Limpid and of a very strong Vinous Taste During a Gentle Evaporation it was observ'd that there were form'd on its Surface very little Greyish Films and that some Ruddish Powder stuck to the sides of the Vessels There remain'd at last at the bottom a Whitish Leafy Earth almost Insipid which amounted to 1 645 of the weight of the Water There could be separated from thence but very little Salt which did resemble that of the Water of Chastelguyon This Earth being freed from its Salt and strongly burnt in the Fire became somewhat Reddish and before it was put on the Fire it in part dissolv'd in distil'd Vinaigre As for the Vinous Taste of this Water altho it was very strong yet it was soon lost by the heat of the Fire as was that of other Mineral Waters which were somewhat Aigre and less Vinous In the distillation what pass'd in the beginning was Insipid as also what pass'd in the middle and end thereof Of the Water of S. Pierre de Clermont in Auvergne This Water taken at the beginning of the Spring-time was Limpid but had made some Whitish Sediments in the Bottles It s Taste inclin'd to somewhat Aigre and Vinous During Evaporation there were form'd on its Surface White Films which precipitated in little Flakes The whole dry Sediment amounted to 1 240 of the weight of the Water whence was drawn almost a Moity of Salt resembling that part of Sal-Marine which is Chrystalliz'd thro Cold and in a Humid and which mixeth without trouble with Alcalies or fixt Sulphurous Salts of Plants dissolv'd in Common Water The Earth of this Sediment
and that this Water may be so much the better forasmuch as being before expos'd to the Air in the Channel of the River it hath not that Crudity which those Waters have which proceed from deep Earths and Rocks Whether its Mineral Quality be taken from the Earth of this Meadow it were possible to discover somwhat by Experiment on this Earth observ'd as well in its Surface as at bottom if the soaking thro of the Water of the River hindereth not the search Of the Water of Spa. This Water of Spa brought into France for the Use of the Queen about the end of Summer and sent to the Laboratory of the King's Library to be examin'd was in four Bottles one whereof was but half-full having been ill stop't and the Water run out The Water of this Bottle was a little troubled and altho it was still of a Taste moderately inclining to somewhat Aigre and Vinous it tinctur'd not with Galls The Water of the other three Bottles which had been well stopt and were full was very Limpid and of a Taste somewhat Aigre and Vinous It took a Minim Colour with Galls Being mixt with the Dissolution of Mercury Sublimate made in Common Water it troubled and rendred it Milky and mixt with the Dissolution of German Vitriol likewise made in Water it troubled that also and in a little time there was made a Precipitation of Ruddish subtil Earth as do those Waters wherein there is a Sulphurous Salt The Acidity of this Water hindereth it not from troubling and precipitating Salt of Lead dissolv'd in Common Water It made the Tincture of Tournesole to turn little Red which a less Acidity turneth much Which gives occasion to judg that the Acidity of this Water is not Simple Being put to distil by a very gentle heat in a high Glass-Alembic to separate the more Volatile and Subtil part what pass'd first was not found different from what followed and what remain'd in the Cucurbite ceasing Distillation after having drawn about 1 4 neither was there any Acidity in the whole Water What remain'd in the Cucurbit having been put in an Earthen Vessel upon warm Ashes to evaporate gently in order to observe whether there were made any Concretions during Evaporation this Water remain'd always Limpid and when there were no more than two Ounces in the Vessel there were made new Essays to know the Quality of the Salt therein by putting a little of this Water as well in the Dissolution of Mercury Sublimate made in Common Water which it troubled and made Milky as on that of German Vitriol which it also troubled with a certain Precipitation of Ruddish Earth and also on Syrup of Violets which became Green All which Effects were Proofs of a Sulphurous Salt confirming those drawn from the former Essays The Vessel wherein the Evaporation was made was found lin'd in its upper part near the edge and all about with a Saline Concretion and lower toward the bottom it was lin'd with a Yellowish Earth almost Insipid but a little Restringent The Evaporation being finish'd there remain'd of the whole Quantity of this Water which was lb vij â„¥ vj. Ê’vj an Earthy and somewhat Saline Sediment being all over the inward Surface of the Vessel This Sediment being taken thence weigh'd only Gr. xlviij whereof 3 4 were a Light Subtil Ruddish Earth and 1 4 was a Sulphurous Salt which caus'd Mercury Sublimate to precipitate of a White Colour as doth the Salt of Marle and also the Volatile Salts of Plants and Animals and not of a Red or Orange Colour as do the true Nitres and Alcalies This Particularity would have oblig'd us to have made a Ninth Class wherein to have plac'd this foreign Water if we had found the like in France to have fill'd it up Advertisements and Corollaries THe great Quantity of Mineral Water which Physicians cause them to drink to whom they prescribe the Use thereof for the Cure of some Rebellious Diseases which yield not to Ordinary Remedies gives occasion to judge that the Principal Effect which they expect is the cleansing of the Viscera by this Inward Washing This Effect is considerable because the most part of Chronical Diseases proceed from the Obstruction of the Viscera which this great Quantity of Drink may resolve The Ease which many Patients receive is the reason why few Physicians give themselves the trouble of searching the particular Qualities of these Waters which are nevertheless very different and considerable enough to deserve Inquiry in order to make the better use of them according to the Diversity of Diseases and the different Constitution of the Diseased 'T is easy to judge that all Waters of Running Springs such as are the Mineral Waters which are us'd in Physic may have particular different Qualities if it be considered that some of these Waters come from Places near the Surface of the Earth others from certain Places more Deep Those which have not been able to penetrate further because of Beds of Stone or Fat Earth which happen underneath rest on this sort of Bottoms and run out only where they find any Passages They have their Originals either from the fall of rain-Rain-Waters or by the Percolation of the Waters of Rivers and Lakes or of the Sea thro the Neighbouring Earths or those which they can reach and in traversing these Earths which are less compact they dissolve the Salts which are there and impregnate themselves with certain Subtil Earthy Particles which are found by Evaporation The Water which comes from Places more Deep whither its Weight caus'd it to fall according as it could pass cannot rise again in its Liquid Consistence without force but being rarified by some inward heat of the Earth it riseth in Vapours afterwards resuming its first and Natural Liquid Consistence by the Cold toward the Surface of the Earth in coming forth it produceth Springs and also little Lakes on the highest Mountains whither it may very well rise since that it mounteth even to the middle Region of the Air where Snow is form'd and whence Rain falls These Waters being rarified in the Profundities of the Earth whence they rise receive easily Mixtures of Mineral Exhalations and Vapours which are frequent in these Places but these Mixtures being not often distinguish'd in these Waters rising from their Springs either by Scent or Taste cannot be understood but by their Effects the Assignment whereof to their proper Causes is not always easy and certain The Information which we give here of the Salts and Earths of several Mineral Waters will not fully satisfie the Curiosity of those who would be likewise instructed concerning the other Causes of the Proprieties of these Waters since that besides the mixture of Concrete substances found in them according to the Observations here related there may also be contain'd substances not Concrete so Subtil and so Volatile that there can remain nothing in the Sediments which may be perceiv'd to differ from the Salts
and Earths and which is not at all found in what passes by Distillation This Taste somewhat Aigre or Vinous which is lost in the Air and by Heat ought to have for its Subject a Spirituous and most Volatil Substance which it were very desirable were known The Heat which some have in their Springs and at coming out of the Earth may be attributed to hot Vapours which are mixt with them in their Course thro Subterraneous Profundities where the Cold of the Air has no free access And some particular Effects of these Waters on diverse Subjects give occasion to judge that they are not Pure and Simple Wherefore the Academy hath propos'd to labour in order to the enquiry of these things for the Satisfaction of the Curious and Public Benefit In the mean while the Observations of the Salts and Earths of these Waters may serve as well in Physic as for Mechanic Arts to make a judgment of the fitness of some of these Waters for certain design'd Uses The two Genders of Salts under which are rang'd the Salts of those Waters whereof hitherto hath been spoken may possibly have Differences which divide each of these Genders into several Species as the Naturalists of the Royal Academy have remark'd in Salts drawn from the Ashes of several Plants which have been observ'd some to resemble the true Nitre others Common Salt to retain the participation of the Specific Proprieties of their Subjects Some of the Earths which are found together with these Salts in the Sediments of Mineral Waters evaporated or distill'd may have particular Uses according to their Differences Some Germans have remark'd that the White Earth of the Mineral Water of Schwalbach is Purgative They had in the Academy some Bottles of this Water the Taste whereof was Vinous and Strong The Salt of its Sediment was Nitrous and caus'd Mercury Sublimate dissolv'd in Common Water to precipitate in a * Nacarate deep Crimson as do the Alcalies of Plants The Earth separated from this Sediment was White as Chalk but there was not Quantity enough to make Experiment of its Purgative Faculty and we had neglected to observe this in several like Earths taken from the Nitrous Waters of this Kingdom The true Nitre of the Ancients being Sulphurous and having resemblance to the Alcalies of Plants hath likewise this Propriety with them to move by Siege And this White Earth which is found with Nitrous Salts of Mineral Waters may participate of the same Quality even as the Coagulum of the Salt of Tartar made by the Second part of Sal-Marine retains some Properties of its Salt altho it be Insipid and not Dissoluble in Water but only in Acid Liquors such as is distill'd Vinaigre which dissolves it with an Effervescence the like whereof hath been observ'd in several White Earths of Nitrous Mineral Waters As to the Observation of the Tasts of the Waters brought to us we have been only able to judge by what hath been remark'd by tasting them at their arrival They who are upon the Place of their Springs may better make a distinction particularly in those which are somewhat Aigre and Vinous the Taste whereof is either weakened or lost by being kept or expos'd to the Air. They may also better perceive the Degrees of their Colouring with Powders of Galls Oak-leaves Myrobalans Pomegranate-barks and other like substances and also judge more precisely of their Consistence and Weight The Naturalists of the Royal Academy have not been able to observe exactly all these things in the Waters which have been sent them from distant Places and which might have receiv'd several Changes as well by Time as Carriage both in their Taste and Disposition to take Colours with certain Substances and in their Consistence more or less Thin and Subtil The Method which they have followed in their Experiments on the Waters which have been sent them may be serviceable to those who will examine them at their Springs in order to gain a more exact knowledg of them This Vaporous Substance of Mineral Waters which are somewhat Aigre and Vinous is probably the first Being of Mineral Sulphur and of the Concretions thence arising There are found Earths impregnated with this Acid Vaporous Sulphurous Substance from the Concretion whereof are sometimes made Sulphurous and Vitriolic Minerals And for the most part there is not made any Mineral Concretion discernable in these Earths where there is not found either Mineral Sulphur or Vitriol or Metal This Mineral Vaporous and Indigested Substance may very well be the Principle of Vitriol but in its first state it cannot be a Vitriolic Product if it be in those Earths where there is not already somewhat of Vitriol It is more easy to observe it in its Products when it hath receiv'd some Mineral Concretion The Humid Air penetrating into the Mineral Stones which are Insipid but impregnated with a Mineral Sulphur which is easily perceiv'd when 't is disengag'd by Fire does manifestly give to the Taste a Sulphurous Acidity which before was not sensible And of the Concrete Sulphur of these Mineral Stones or Marchasites penetrated by the Humid Air is made a Concrete Vitriolic Juice which is the Product of this Mineral Sulphur the Principle whereof hath been an Acid and most Vaporous Substance Which also hath been observ'd in many Clayie Earths expos'd to the Air which dissolving into Powder contracted at first an Acidity more sensible to the Nose than to the Tongue afterwards there were made Sulphurous and Inflammable Concretions and at length Saline Concretions which were reduc'd to Vitriol This Subtil Vaporous Substance Acid or rather Harsh produceth not always Vitriolic Concretions and it happens in many Earths that thro default of requisite dispositions it remains in its first Being Then it is not a Vapour of Vitriol and the Mineral Waters which pass thro the Earths where this Subtil Matter is found and which contract an Acidity by mixture therewith ought not to be call'd Vitriolic We have observ'd in many Waters impregnated with this Acid Vapour that nevertheless there was not found there any true Vitriol or any Substance resembling Alum and that the Salt which remain'd in their Sediments was a Nitre such as the Ancients have describ'd and which is as far different from Vitriol and Alum as are Alcalies or fixt Sulphurous Salts of Plants The Salts Vitriols Alums and other Concrete Substances dissoluble in Water may be so mixt with Mineral Waters that they may not be much perceivable except in their Sediments but the Sulphurs and Bitumens are always easie to be discern'd in the Waters wherein they are contain'd because they either settle or swim on the Surface being not capable of mixture as the Salts We have not perceiv'd any in the Waters which have been sent us Those which were the Hottest in their Springs have not seem'd to us more Sulphurous and Bituminous than the others And if there is found any Sulphur or Bitumen in their Basins
upon the sides of their Receptacles or in their Mud it may be that these are not those Inflammable Substances in the Earth which have rendred them Hot. It is more probable that they contract this Heat by the mixture of some Hot Vapours which they meet with in Deep places thro which they pass Experience doth sufficiently shew that no Combustible matter takes Fire or keeps it long without Air and that to extinguish the Fire of Sulphurs and Bitumens inflam'd it is enough to hinder them from the Communication of the Air by covering well the Vessels which contain these Substances The Sulphurs which burn in Certain Cavities of Mountains discover'd do not take Fire but in those places where they take Air and when that which lies open is spent the Fire ceases in what remains cover'd altho it be equally Combustible And if some Substances take a Fire strong enough not to be stifled under Ground it causeth what covereth it to crack to give it self Vent and take Air as doth Powder in Mines If there are not perpetual Subterraneous Fires the Heat of some Mineral Waters which continue to be Hot in their Springs cannot be attributed to them It is more probable that there are in several places of the Earth Hot Vapours and Exhalations the Heat whereof is preserv'd in places Deep and Close where the Air doth not penetrate to cool them and where these substances Rarifi'd have not room enough to distend themselves more and suffer some weakning of their Heat or Dissipation by a more great Rarefaction But the Heat of these Vapours may be augmented by their pressing together in Close Passages whereinto they insinuate themselves and if they meet with Waters running thro the same Passages they may heat them by mixing with them There have been made some Observations which give occasion to judge that the Waters of Hot Springs and Natural Baths are made warm by Hot Vapors which pass with them I. That these Hot Mineral Waters burn not the Mouth and Tongue of those who drink of them at their coming forth from their Springs as Common Water heated by Fire to a like Degree would do Which seems to proceed from the Subtilty of the Substance which produceth this Heat in the Water The Flame of Spirit of Wine burns not the Hand so strongly as that of a burning Coal II. That the Heat of Mineral Waters doth not act on some tender substances as doth that of Common Water rais'd by Fire to the same Degree for it hath been seen that Dock-Leaves which were softned and boyl'd easily enough in Common Water moderately heated on the Fire did not soften in the Mineral Waters of Neris in Bourbonnois which are the Hottest in France and which are rendred difficult to drink by the excess of their Heat but these Leaves only chang'd Colour and became Yellowish like dead dry'd Leaves Which gives occasion to judge that this Heat proceeds from some Vapour or Exhalation different from Water and more proper to dry than to soften as doth Common Water which humects III. That these Waters are more Hot in their Springs by Night than by Day Which may be caus'd by the Cool of the Air which hindereth the Dissipation of the Hot Vapours and Exhalations which are mixt with them IV. That these Waters being expos'd to the Air from out their Springs cool'd not so soon as doth Common Water heated by Fire Because the Cold Air which maketh the Motion excited by the Fire in Common Water soon to cease keeps in the Hot Vapours which warm the Mineral Waters by their mixture and hindereth them from dispersing so soon V. That Hot Mineral Waters have no more Disposition to Boyl on the Fire than Common Cold Waters there being as much time requir'd to cause the one to boyl as the other Which clearly shews that the Heat which Mineral Waters contract in the Earth proceeds not from a Motion of their Particles excited by any Subterraneous Fire for this Motion being continued and augmentted by the Fire of a Chimney or Furnace would cause them to boyl sooner than those which being Cold have not that Disposition by a Motion Commenc'd Wherefore the Heat of Mineral Waters proceeds from certain Warm Vapours or Exhalations mingled with them which the Fire drives away before they can boyl thereon If there is without Fire in the Earth any Heat strong enough to warm the Waters of some Springs it must necessarily be that this Heat which is communicated to Waters which are Warm from some Thousands of Years and perhaps have ever been so in order to perpetuate self keeps in Deep places and far distant from the Surface of the Earth where the Air which encompasseth that might weaken it by its Cold which seems to be the most extreme According to this supposition the Difference of Waters of Hot and Cold Springs whereof some are observ'd to make like Sediments and to have Salts of the same Species should proceed from this that these Waters pass in the Earth thro Places more or less Deep We observe that Waters which run on the Surface of the Earth are Cold unless warm'd by the Sun and we find not any Heat very manifest in the parts of the Earth which are not very Deep Which gives occasion to judge that what there is of Heat remarkable in the Earth ought to be plac'd far therein It is not easy to comprehend the Qualities of these Vapours or Exhalations which mix with Mineral Waters and warm them It seems not necessary that they should be all Bituminous or Sulphurous tho some are such At Ain la Chapelle are found Flowers of Sulphur rais'd upon the Walls of Hot Springs which are there and in the Burning Fountain of Dauphiné is seen a Flame which Issues forth with the Water and which probably was not Flame under the Earth where it had not Air enough to burn and scarcely the Water which issues forth with it is heated But in many other Springs of Hot Mineral Waters there is nothing seen either Sulphurous or Inflammable There are many other Substances which are heated without taking Fire the Vapours whereof mix with Hot Mineral Waters but their Qualities are not understood but by the effects which they produce The Royal Academy of the Sciences has not had Opportunities to observe the divers Effects of Mineral Waters as well Hot as Tepid and Cold by employing them to different Uses The Observations of the Effects of these Waters on Persons who use them in Drinking Bathing Pumping Washing Embrocation c. are reserv'd for the Physicians whose Duty it is to know the Particular Constitutions of those Persons and the State of their Health Declining or Improving As for the Uses in Mechanical Arts it may be easy to remark what one or other sorts of these Waters can do in the steeping of Hemp whitening of Linnen dying of Wool and Silk dressing of Leather tempering of Iron boyling of Pease and such like watering of Plants
the mixture of Sulphurous and Nitrous Salts with which the other Part can mix without trouble having not as the first this Acidity whereon the Sulphurous Salts may act The contrary whereof happens to Common Salt whereof the first Part is the most Sulphurous and the second most Acid. The true Nitres are likewise compos'd of two different Saline Parts the one more Sulphurous which is Chrystalliz'd thro Cold in a Humid the other which remains dissolv'd after this Chrystallization and which is not condens'd but by a Heat strong enough to drive away all the Dissolvent Humid is less Sulphurous and hath a certain Acidity which the other hath not The first Beings or Embryo's of Mineral Salts are nothing else but Vapours or Juices Unconcrete wholly Vapourable whereof some may be Condens'd and in part fixt by the force of Fire or be disengag'd from their Matrixes and rendred capable of Concretion by the means of the Air which is observ'd in certain Nitrous Aluminous and Vitriolic Salts The Sulphurous Salt which is found in the Calx of certain hard stones burnt in the Fire and which is a kind of true Nitre had its Seminary in these stones Crude and in this state of its first Being is much different from what it acquires by the Fire which from being Cold and Coagulative rendreth it Caustic and Resolutive The Cold and Coagulative Quality of this stony Salt in its first Being is manifest enough in the Water of the Springs of some Rocks which are very Clear and Cold and which produce Gouts and Cold Scirrhous Tumours in those who ordinarily drink of them This Seminary of stony Salt is rendred Nitrous Sulphurous Caustic and Resolutive by the Fire which is able to exalt it but not to produce it in the Calcination of these Stones no more than in burnt Oyster-shells whereof is also made a Calx which hath no less of a Sulphurous Salt This Embryonate Salt in the Chalk-stones is a stony Juice which mixeth it self with Waters which pass between the Beds and Interstices of these Stones in the Rocks but is not easily discern'd in the Waters impregnated therewith The Seminary of Alum and Vitriol is also necessarily in the substances whence these sorts of Salts are drawn by the means of Water after their Calcination in the Fire and Maceration in the open Air. The Fire and the Air which are able to exalt them cannot produce them The Seminary of Alum in the Aluminous Stones and that of Vitriol in Sulphurous Marchasites are not in this state manifest to our senses and oftentimes they are not known in Mineral Waters but by some Effects and that without certainty because these Effects may be Equivocal All these Diversities of Mineral Salts Embryonate Enix Chrystalline Succulent Sulphurous not Sulphurous of the first and of the second Concretion those also of their Genders Species Mixtures Proportions Alterations c. render the Judgment of the Proprieties of Waters partaking of them very difficult and uncertain The fine Earths which also are mixt in Mineral Waters may be of several Kinds difficult to be distinguished they being of divers Colours White Grey Yellowish Ruddy Brown c. and also of different Qualities Some are dissoluble in distill'd Vinaigre others indissoluble some may be melted others not by Fire wherein also they receive diverse Colours Some resemble Marle others Clay others Chalk others Bole some Sand others Talk and others Calx some are produc'd by the Concretion of certain Juices Saline or Sulphurous others not some simply Mineral others Metallic The most part of these Species being difficultly distinguish'd when single are much more when mixt The simple Infusions of certain Mineral-Sulphurous Earths may remarkably alter the Waters of Wells and Springs notwithstanding there may remain no Sediment from these Earths after Distillation as happens in Liquors rendred Emetic by the simple infusion of Antimony The Hot Mineral Waters may contract some alteration by Sulphurous and Bituminous substances meeting in their Course for these substances participate of certain subtil Salts which these Waters may dissolve and carry with them Some Mineral Waters Cold or Tepid have a Taste somewhat Aigre or Vinous which is not observ'd in any of those which are remarkably Hot but this Taste is so easily lost by the least Heat and even by the Air that it is difficult to know what produceth it This is found not only in Waters esteem'd Aluminous and Vitriolic but also in those which are manifestly Nitrous and which abound in a Sulphurous Salt opposite to Acids The Causes of the Heat of certain Mineral Waters are little known There is reason to doubt whether there be Subterraneous Fires capable of heating them or whether they receive this Heat from the Exhalations of certain Mineral Juices Fermentable or wherein there is caused an Effervescence by the mixture of other Juices All these Difficulties have hindered these four years the advantage which the Public might have receiv'd from the Communication of what the Naturalists of the Academy have been able to observe on Waters which have been sent them from several Provinces and which they have examined according to the opportunities which they have had The Method which has been taken in this Enquiry was to observe 1. From what Place they came 2. In what Time and Disposition of the Air they were taken from their Springs 3. How long they had been put up in Bottles to be sent away 4. Whether they were preserv'd in Bottles that were clean and well stopt 5. Whether they had made any Sediment in the Bottles and of what sort 6. Whether they were clear or muddy 7. Whether they had any manifest Scent or Taste 8. Whether their Weight differ'd remarkably from that of simple and Common Waters 9. Whether they took any Tincture or Colour by certain Powders as of Galls of Oak-leaves Pomegranate-Bark of Myrobalans c. 10. Whether having been expos'd to the Air or a little warm'd they would no more receive the Tincture or Colour 11. Whether being put to Distillation by an Alembic in Balneo Mariae there rose and distill'd first of all some Liquor more subtil than the rest and whether there were found any difference between the several parts of the same distill'd Water taken apart 12. Whether in Evaporating or Distilling these Waters by a gentle Heat there were form'd any Films on the surface of the Water or whether there were made some Earthy Concretions swimming in the Water in Flakes or adhering to the sides of the Vessels or settling to the bottom and of what sort 13. Whether after Distillation or Evaporation almost total of these Waters there was made in the remaining Liquor set in a cold place any Concretion Saline Fibrous Granous Leafy or otherwise figur'd 14. Whether the Water being totally Evaporated or Distill'd off to a driness left a Sediment how much and of what sort 15. Whether the Earthy Sediments contain'd any Portion of Salt or not 16. To what sort
Some were dissolv'd almost totally in distill'd Vinaigre with an Effervescence as doth the White Earth which results from the Coagulation of Natron which is a Species of true Nitre which Coagulation is made in an Instant by the Mixture of that part of Common Salt which is not condens'd in a Humid Such were the White Earths of some Nitrous Waters as those of Andabre Prugniez Martres de Veyre S. Mion S. Floret Jaude Pont-Gibault Josse Esvahon and S. Alban Others were dissolv'd only in part and but little as those of the Waters of Chaudesaigues Vic en Carladois Vernet Chastelguyon la Bourboule Vichy and Bourbon l' Archambault Others were not dissolv'd at all as those of the Waters of Bagniéres Pons en Saintonge and Premeau Some others did only make the distill'd Vinaigre to take a high Tincture of a Hyacinth-Colour which was lost in a few days by the Precipitation of a little Brown Powder which seem'd to be Sulphurous as that of the Waters of Vaujour la Rocheposay and S. Paul de Rouen The Fire hath also discovered certain other Differences of these Earths for in burning them strongly in the Fire some have changed Colour others not some have been Calcined others Vitrified Of those which were White and changed Colour by Fire some have become Dark-Grey as that of the Water of Vernet others Yellow as that of the Water of S. Floret others Ruddy as that of the Water of Prugniez others Reddish as that of the Waters of Mont d' Or Vic le Comte and S. Alban Some others have not changed Colour as that of the Waters of Bagniéres Baréges Capvert Barbazan Encausse Chaudesaigues c. Others were Calcin'd as that of the Water of Passi which was altogether Plastrous Others were Vitrified as that of the Water of Andabre The Sulphurs and Bitumens as well Concrete as Liquid are not according to their whole substance mixt with these Waters altho there is sometimes found somewhat of them in certain Springs There is only their Saline part which is dissoluble in Water that which is Fat Inflammable being easily separated And to discover them among these Waters it were necessary to make Observations at their Springs and in their Basins There has been none as yet found in those which have been sent to the Academy The other Mixtures less sensible have not been yet observed But till Opportunity shall offer for their Discovery if possible the present Observations of the Qualities Quantities Agreements and Differences of Salts and Earths of so great a Number of Waters which have been examined in the Royal Academy of the Sciences and whereof we now make Public the Particular History may be Useful and Serviceable to Physicians who advise their Use the better to make choice of those which by reason of the mixture of these Mineral Substances which are more sensible may sit their Intentions for the restoring of the Health of Persons Diseased Particular OBSERVATIONS On the SALTS and EARTHS OF Mineral WATERS Which have been Examined in the Royal Academy of the Sciences ALL the Mineral Waters which have been brought to and examined in the Academy were in their Springs some Hot some Tepid and others Cold They also differed among themselves according to the Observation of the Taste some being somewhat Aigre or Vinous others Austere or Ferruginous others without any Savour very manifest or Insipid All these sensible Differences joyn'd to those which have been most remarkable in the Sediment of these Waters after Distillation or Evaporation and principally in the Participation of certain Salts whereof some had a resemblance to Common Salt others to the Nitre of the Ancients have given occasion to distribute them into certain Classes thereby to dispose in some order the particular History of so great a Number of Observations which have been made in examining such a Diversity of Waters In the First of these Classes are plac'd the Hot Waters wherein was found a Salt having resemblance to Common Salt In the Second are the Hot Waters wherein was found a Salt resembling the Nitre describ'd by the Ancients In the Third are the Tepid and Insipid Waters whereof some have a Salt either Common or Nitrous and some have not In the Fourth are the Tepid somewhat Aigre or Vinous Waters which have some participation of the true Nitre In the Fifth are the Cold Insipid Waters whereof some participate of a Salt resembling Common Salt others in their Sediments discover no Salt In the Sixth are the Cold Waters of a Ferruginous or Austere Taste In the Seventh are the Cold Waters of a Taste somewhat Aigre or Vinous which participate of Common Salt In the Eighth are the Cold Waters likewise somewhat Aigre or Vinous which participate of the true Nitre There were no Hot Waters found that were Vinous nor Cold Insipid Waters that were Nitrous The First CLASS Of the Hot Waters wherein was found a Salt resembling Common Salt OF this sort were the Waters of Bourbon Lancy la Bourboule Esvahon or Evos Balleruc Barbazan Baréges Bagniéres Digne and Bourbonne Of the Waters of Bourbon Lancy in Bourbonnois The great Number of Springs the Magnificence of the Baths the Antiquity of the Buildings and the Care which our Kings have taken since the last Age in the repairing thereof give to these Waters the Prerogative to be first considered The Experiments have been made on the Waters of le Lymbe the Springs of la Reyne Escures and S. Leger brought in the Beginning of the Spring-time The Water of the great Well which is called le Lymbe is the warmest in its Spring It was Limpid and without Taste Having been slowly distill'd there was found no difference between what pass'd first and what last It left at the bottom of the Cucurbites about 1 640 Sediment whitish and Salt from whence was separated 1 10 Earth the other 9 10 were a pure Salt of the taste of Common Salt which was condens'd in Grains of a Cubic Figure like Sal-Marine This Water continued always Limpid in the Cucurbites during the distillation To examine the Quality of this Salt by comparison with Common Salt They caus'd to be dissolv'd the one and the other apart in four times the Quantity of Common Water afterwards They mixt them with the like Quantity of Common Water wherein Mercury Sublimate had been dissolv'd and it was observed that by the mixture of the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe there was produced neither any Trouble nor Precipitation in the Sublimate Water as also neither in the dissolution of Common Salt The same was observ'd upon the Dissolution of Vitriol which was not troubled either by the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe or by Common-Salt These two Salts being put apart into Common Water tinctur'd with Tournesole changed not the Blew Colour as do Alum and Vitriol and all other Acids which make it Red But they did both alike precipitate the Salt of Lead dissolv'd in Common Water
and filtrated thro Grey Paper Having thus compared the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe with Common Salt and observ'd their Resemblances together They afterwards remark'd the Differences of this Salt of the Water of le Lymbe from Alum and Vitriol as well by Sight as Taste which they found Considerable that by the Mixture made of these three substances dissolv'd apart in Common Water with the Tincture of Tournesole the Blew Colour which chang'd into a Clear-Red by the mixture of Alum and into a Dark-Red by the mixture of Vitriol chang'd not at all by the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe no more than by Common-Salt In comparing this Salt of the Water of le Lymbe with other Mineral Salts which are commonly known it was observed that it fulminated not in the Fire with Combustible substances as doth Salt-Petre that the Taste of one had no resemblance with that of the other that Salt-Petre dissolv'd in Common Water caus'd the Tincture of Tournesole to become somwhat Red which the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe did not that Salt-Petre dissolv'd in Common Water troubled not the Dissolution of the Salt of Lead as doth the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe It was also remark'd that this Salt of the Water of le Lymbe was different from true Nitre forasmuch as the true Nitre such as is the Natron of Egypt and the Natural Borax precipitated in an Orange-Colour Mercury Sublimate dissolv'd in Common Water which the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe did not which did not so much as trouble this Dissolution of Sublimate as doth Sal-Gemm which renders it a little Milky and as doth the Salt of Marle which whiteneth it still more By all these Comparisons of the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe with other known Salts it was observed that it had resemblance only to Sal-Marine and other like Common Salts which are used for seasoning and preservation of Victuals And because Sal-Gem and the fixt Salt which is separated from Salt-Petre in its refining seem'd like to Common Salt they examined both one and the other to see to which of the two the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe had most resemblance and it was observed that it did more resemble the fixt Salt of Salt-Petre than Sal-Gemm and that herein it agreed also with Common Salt Sal-Gemm dissolv'd in Water and plac'd to evaporate by a gentle heat does incrust on the surface of the Water it troubles and makes White the Limpid Dissolution of Sublimate it turns into Yellow the Green Tincture of the dissolution of German Vitriol and in a little time is condens'd in long and transparent Fibres in that Vitriol-Water which the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe did not as neither did Common Salt and the fixt Salt of Salt-Petre There appeared nothing Bituminous or Sulphurous in all this Water nor in its Sediments The other Waters of Bourbon Lancy which were those of the Springs of la Reyne Escures S. Leger which in their Sources have different Degrees of Heat the first being most Warm but less then that of le Lymbe the second less than the first and the third only Tepid were found to have like Sediments and in like proportion All three had proportionably somewhat less Salt than that of le Lymbe but otherwise their Salt was alike In lb V. of these Waters there was almost Ê’j of Salt The Salt of these Waters being melted by the Fire in Crucibles became only Grey and the Earth separated from the Salt of the Water of le Lymbe changing its Colour by the Fire became very Brown and contracted a certain Brackishness but that of the Waters of the other Springs changed not Of the Waters of la Bourboule in the Parish of Murat de Quairs The Water of the Bath of the Town and that of the Spring above the Bath are alike They were Limpid and manifestly Salt They were evaporated by a gentle he at in Earthen Vessels the better to observe the Changes arising During their Evaporation made apart there were form'd Whitish Flakes which did swim in the middle of the Liquor and by degrees were precipitated to the bottom The Total of the dry Sediment was 1 170 of the weight of the Water it was almost all Salt whence was separated only 1 20 Greyish Earth which suffer'd no change by the Fire but partly dissolv'd in distill'd Vinaigre The Salt of these Waters was found to resemble Common Salt which was experimented as before on the Salts of the Waters of Bourbon Lanoy The Water of the Spring above the Bath had more Salt and less Earth than that of the Bath These Waters were taken in the beginning of the Spring-time Of the Water of Esvahon or Evos in Combrail les The Water of the great Spring of the Baths was very Limpid and Insipid It left after Evaporation 1 768 White Fibrous Sediment of a Saline taste the Salt whereof being separated from its Earth had a resemblance to Common Salt It changed not its white Colour by the Fire and its Earth was found almost all dissolv'd in distill'd Vinaigre This Water was taken in the Spring-time together with that of the little Spring of the Town and because the Water of the little Spring was found different from that of the great one of the Baths the Observations made thereon are referred to another Class Of the Water of Balleruc in Languedoc The Water of the Baths of Balleruc being sent in the middle of the Summer was found to be Limpid but of a disagreeable Taste and somewhat Salt In Evaporation thereof there were made on the surface of the Water Saline Films which being finish'd there remain'd 1 128 Salt resembling Common Salt It did not precipitate Mercury Sublimate dissolv'd in Common Water nor Vitriol so dissolv'd as doth the true Nitre It caused not the Tincture of Tournesole to become Red as doth Vitriol and Alum It fulminated not upon Burning Coals as Salt-Petre but thickn'd the Liquor of Salt of Tartar dissolv'd as doth the second part of Sal-Marine which still retaineth a certain Mixture of the first that hindereth it from Coagulating strongly the Liquor of Salt of Tartar and Alcalies dissolv'd by the Air or in Common Water This Salt was not mixt with any Earth which was separable by its Dissolution in Water Being put in a Crucible on the Fire it was difficult to melt and became Greyish Of the Water of Barbazan in le Commingeois The Water of Barbazan being taken in the middle of the Spring-time was Limpid and without any Taste very manifest Only it left a certain Roughness upon the Tongue During Evaporation which was made by a Gentle Heat there arose white Films thick and very like to those made by Quick-lime on the Surface of Water The Evaporation being finish'd these Films remain'd dry at the bottom of the Vessels in their first form Their weight was 1 566 of that
of the Water They contain'd only about 1 6 Salt resembling Common-Salt The Earth which was a sort of White Chalk receiv'd no change by the Fire Of the Waters of Baréges in la Bigorre The Water which was taken up at the two Baths of Baréges about the middle of Summer and was three Weeks before it came to our hands smelt of the Fen and Mud. These Waters being evaporated apart had their Surface cover'd with a subtil Greyish Film there were little Ruddish Flakes swimming in the middle They left very little Sediment Grey Leafy of a Saline Taste which was but 1 4700 of the whole The small Quantity of Salt which they contain'd had resemblance to Common Salt consider'd according to the Mixture of its two parts so that the second which hath an Acidity may surpass in Quantity the first which hath none for this Salt of the Waters of Baréges troubled and thickned the Dissolution of Salt of Tartar Of the Water of Bagniéres in la Bigorre The Waters of Bagniéres taken in the middle of the Spring-time were those of the little Bath the Spring de la Reyne the Bath of S. Roch the great Bath the Spring de la Forgue and the Spring de Salut The Water of the little Bath which is said to be hot in its Spring almost to the third Degree was Limpid and without any manifest Taste In the Evaporation there were form'd White and Thick Films on the surface of the Water and the dry Sediment made 1 488 of the weight of the Water whence it was separated It had 1 3 Salt like to that of the Water of Baréges The Earth freed from its Salt was White and very Subtil It dissolved not in distill'd Vinaigre and chang'd not in the Fire either its Consistence or Colour The Water of the Spring de la Reyne which is said to be no less Hot than that of the little Bath was very Limpid and without Taste There were also form'd Films on the Surface of the Water in the Evaporation The Sediment was 1 440 containing but 1 4 Salt The Qualities of the Salt and Earth of this Sediment differ'd nothing from those of the Salt and Earth of the Water of the little Bath The Water of the Bath of S. Roch which in its Spring is likewise very Hot was as the others very Clear and Insipid In Evaporation there were form'd fewer Films on the Surface than in that of the little Bath tho there was found more Sediment for there was 1 3745 whence was drawn 1 5 Salt like to that of the Water of the little Bath and that of the Spring de la Reyne The Earth was also alike The Water of the great Bath which is the Hottest and which is only us'd for Bathing was likewise without Taste and very Limpid In Evaporation there were form'd Films on the Surface as in that of the little Bath but its Sediment was found much less It was only 1 716 which contained not above 1 4 Salt The Salt and Earth of this Water had the same Qualities with those of the Salt and Earth of the Water of the little Bath The Water of the Spring de la Forgue which is said in its Source to be Hot in the first Degree and fit to drink was also very Limpid and Insipid In Evaporation its Surface was covered with Films like to those on the Water of the Spring de la Reyne The Sediment remaining in form of a White Earth was 1 419 wherein was found somewhat more than 1 4 Salt nothing different from that of the Water of the Spring de la Reyne Their Earths were also alike The Water of the Spring de Salut which is also proper for drinking was as the precedent without Taste and very Clear There were form'd on its surface very few Films during Evaporation and it left very little Sediment amounting to no more than 1 1600 which was almost nothing but a Salt resembling the other Salts of these Waters These Salts having been put apart in Crucibles on the Fire to be melted exhal'd some Spirits which made the Flame of the Coals of a Blew Colour and being melted and cool'd were found colour'd with a Redness of Clear Lacque except the Salt of the Water of the Bath of S. Roch which was onely Greyish Of the Water of Digne in Provence The Water of the Baths of Digne being taken in the middle of the Summer had a little Saltness which nevertheless rendred it not disagreeable to the Taste and was very Limpid In its Sediment after Evaporation was found a Pure White Salt resembling Common-Salt the Weight whereof was 1 270 of the Weight of the Water This Salt caus'd the Liquor of the Salt of Tartar dissolv'd by the Humid Air to Coagulate in an instant as doth that part of Sal-Marine which is not Condens'd but by a Heat which causeth all the Humidity to evaporate that keeps it in a Liquid Consistence after the Chrystallization of the other part thro Cold. Of the Water of Bourbonne in Champagne The Water of the Baths of Bourbonne taken in the Month of August was of a Tast somewhat Saline After Evaporation there was also found much Salt to the Quantity of 1 142 without mixture of Earth and it had resemblance to that part of Common Salt which is Condens'd and Chrystalliz'd thro Cold in a Humid for it troubled not the Liquor of Salt of Tartar dissolv'd There appear'd to us in this Water nothing Bituminous but there was found somewhat of that kind in the Mud of the Baths whence it was taken it being the Propriety of Bitumens not to mix with Water If they be Liquid they swim a top if they be Thick Earthy they settle to the bottom among the Mud which they make black and of an ill Scent by reason of the Sulphurous Salt which abounds in those substances Some of this Mud being put in a Glass-Retort and distill'd by a Gradual Heat there came forth a troubled and whitish Water of a Scent somewhat Sulphurous afterwards by force of Fire came over a Water somewhat of a Ruddy Colour and an Oyl This Ruddy Water was impregnated with a Volatile Salt which caus'd Mercury Sublimate dissolv'd in Common-Water to precipitate It precipitated also the Earth of Vitriol as Sulphurous Salts do and made an Effervescence with the Spirit of Salt What remain'd of this Mud in the Retort after Distillation retain'd still somewhat of a Sulphurous Salt mixt with Common Salt This Sulphurous Salt was so Fixt in the Earth of this Mud that it could not be separated but by a very great Fire Neither is it mixt with the Water of the Baths whence this Mud is taken The Second CLASS Of the Hot Waters wherein there was found a Salt resembling Nitre as describ'd by the Ancients OF this sort were the Waters of Bourbon l' Archambault Chaudesaigues Mont d' Or Neris the little Spring of Esvahon the Baths
of Vichy and Sail lez Chasteau-Morand Of the Water of Bourbon l'Archambault in Bourbonnois The Water of the Baths of Bourbon l' Archambault taken in the Spring-time was Limpid and of a Taste somewhat Nitrous During the Evaporation made by a Gentle Heat to observe its Sediment there were form'd on its Surface White Films which afterwards precipitated in Flakes The whole Sediment was found to be 1 316 of the weight of the Water containing 1 10 White Earth and 9 10 Salt In examining this Salt it was observ'd that it had a Lixivial Taste and was purely Nitrous The Nitre whereto the Naturalists of the Academy have thought fit to refer the Salt of the Water of the Baths of Bourbon l' Archambault is the true Nitre describ'd by the Ancients and commonly so call'd which hath a resemblance to the Fixt Sulphurous Salt of Plants reduc'd into Ashes and is different from Salt-Petre which some Chymists take for Nitre There is a kind of Fossil Nitre which is taken out of the Earth in Grey Compact and Hard Lumps There is also a sort Soft less Compact White which shoots forth upon the Ground in certain parts of Hot Countries There are also Waters impregnated therewith as that of Nile The Natron of Egypt and the Natural Borax are also Species thereof and the Salt of Marle may be referr'd thereto which is also a Sulphurous Salt but which hath more resemblance to the Volatile Salt of Plants than to Alcalies All these Nitrous Salts have something Sulphurous which is not found in Salt-Petre unless Alcaliz'd that is to say reduc'd by the means of the Sulphur of Coals to the Nature and Quality of the Salt of the Herb Kaly The Fixt Sulphurous Salts of Plants and the true Nitres do cause Mercury Sublimate dissolv'd in Common Water to precipitate in the Colour of the Rinds of Ripe Oranges They make Syrup of Violets to turn Green they restore the Blew Colour of Tournesole being changed and made Red by Acid Liquors As also doth the Salt of the Water of the Baths of Bourbon l' Archambault which Salt-Petre Common Salt Vitriol and Alum do not There was found nothing Bituminous in this Water nor any thing of Sulphureity except the Nitrous part of its Salt The Earth of its Sediment had nothing of Fat it dissolv'd in part in distill'd Vinaigre In lb IV. of this Water there was found Ê’jss of Nitrous Salt which Quaâ—tity is sufficient to move the Belly aâ—â— Purge as do Alcalies This great Quantity of true Nitre in the Water of the Warm Springs of Bourbon l' Archambault may be considered as the Principal Cause of the Effects of this Water in those who drink thereof And by the Consideration of the Proprieties of this sort of Salt which are to heat dry attenuate resolve deterge purge c. one may judge of the Agreeableness of this Water to the Constitutions of Persons Diseased and the Quality of their Diseases in order to advise the Use thereof Of the Water of Chaudesaigues in the High Country of Auvergne This Water being taken in the Spring time was Limpid and Insipid but of an ill Scent it being Corrupted in the Bottles In Evaporation thereof by a Gentle Heat there was made a Mucilaginous Sediment like to Frog-spawn of a Taste somewhat Saline and which thickned like Gelly of Hartshorn The whole dry Sediment amounted only to 1 1139 of the weight of the Water It contain'd a little more than the Moity of Salt The Salt of this Sediment was found to be Nitrous for it precipitated Mercury Sublimate dissolv'd in Common Water in the Colour of the Rinds of ripe Oranges as doth the true Nitre and all Lixivial Salts It chang'd the Colour of Syrup of Violets into Green and restored the Blew Colour of Tournesole being chang'd and made strongly Red by Alum-Water This Salt being melted in a Crucible on the Fire swell'd like Borax and became Ruddy The Earth of this Water receiv'd no Change by the Fire tho strongly burnt in a Crucible It dissolv'd in part in distill'd Vinaigre Of the Water of Mont d' Or in Auvergne This Water being sent at the same time with the precedent was Insipid but somewhat Troubled It left after Evaporation 1 284 Whitish and Leafy Sediment which was almost all Saline having only 1 9 Earth This Salt was likewise of the same Quality with the precedent that is Nitrous Being put in a Crucible on the Fire to melt it swell'd not it turned to a dark Red Colour and its Earth being strongly burnt in the Fire became Reddish Of the Water of Neris in Bourbonnois The Water of the Baths of Neris taken in the Spring-time was very Limpid and without Taste Being evaporated by a most Gentle Heat what remain'd in a dry Consistence was in so little Quantity that it made but 1 6272 of the weight of the Water This Sediment was Saline and having been dissolv'd in thrice as much Common Water there was separated from it a little Earth and one part of the Water being gently evaporated the Salt was condens'd thro Cold in Chrystals very like to Salt-Petre refin'd but they did not fulminate on burning Coals They caused Mercury Sublimate dissolv'd in Common Water to precipitate in an Orange Colour as doth the true Nitre and by other Experiments it was also found that this Salt was Nitrous and had a resemblance to Natural Borax The Sediment of this Water being put on the Fire without separating any of that little Earth mixt therewith did melt and contract a Green Colour in the Crucible Of the Water of Esvahon from the little Spring of the Town This Water was found to differ much from that of the great Spring of the Baths of Esvahon It left after Evaporation 1 808 very White and Leafy Sediment of a Saline Taste the Salt whereof did resemble that of the Water of Neris and also contracted a certain Greenness by the Fire Of the Water of la Grille de Vichy in Bourbonnois The Waters of Vichy are some Hot some Tepid and others Cold. The Hot and Tepid which were examin'd in the Academy did participate of the true Nitre They were taken in the Spring-time The Water of the Grande Grille which is Warm in its Spring was Limpid of a weak Scent and of a Taste somewhat Nitrous During Evaporation there were form'd Greyish Films on the Surface of the Water And at last was made a Saline Concretion which being dry amounted to 1 176 of the weight of the Water whence was separated 1 12 Grey Fibrous Earth The Dissolution of this Salt depurated and freed from its Earth having been evaporated the first Concretion was made in Long White Transparent Chrystals like to Salt-Petre but fulminated not upon burning Coals and what was condens'd last in little Ruddish Grains had a Lixivial Taste All this Salt was Nitrous as that of the Water of the Baths of Bourbon l' Archambault The
part of Sal-Marine and did coagulate the Salt of Tartar dissolv'd in Common Water The Earth of this Sediment did Calcine in the Fire like Plaster and by tempering it with Water it stuck together as doth burnt Plaster Of the Water of Biévre near Paris This Water which some have judg'd to be Mineral was very Limpid and almost Insipid After Evaporation there remain'd so little Sediment that it scarcely amounted to 1 7700 of the Weight of the Water It consisted of a White Leafy Earth of a Taste very little Brackish resembling that of Common Salt Of the Water of Chasteau Gontier in Anjou This Water likewise by some thought Mineral was Limpid and without manifest Taste The little Sediment which it left being evaporated made but 1 2000 of the Weight of the Water being a Grey Earth very Brackish the Salt whereof resembled both parts of Sal-Marine conjoyn'd Of the Water of Vaujour in the Dutchy of la Valliére This Water was Limpid and Insipid It s Sediment after Evaporation was in very small Quantity containing a Ruddish Earth somewhat Brackish which gathered together in little Ruddish Mucilages swimming in the Water that toward the end did stick to the sides of the Vessels and as it were lin'd them The Salt of this Sediment resembled Common Salt and its Earth being put in a little Crucible on the Fire did half melt and was reduc'd into Clods It dissolv'd somewhat in distil'd Vinaigre which took thence a Hyacinth-Colour but that afterwards precipitated into a deep Brown Of the Water of la Rocheposay in Touraine This Water taken at the beginning of Summer was Limpid and without Taste During Evaporation the Surface was cover'd with a White Sandy Powder which also did stick to the sides of the Vessels there remaining at last but very little of a Grey Sandy Earth of a Taste a little Brackish which made only about 1 2700 of the weight of the Water The little Quantity of Salt which was in this Sediment might be referr'd to Common Salt The Earth being put on the Fire became White It dissolv'd not in distil'd Vinaigre which nevertheless was charg'd with a Hyacinth Colour but this Colour was dissipated next Day by the Precipitation of some Powder Of the Water of Pous in Saintonge This Water being taken at the end of the Summer was Limpid without Tast During Evaporation there were form'd on the Surface little white Films very Subtil and as it were Sandy There remain'd a small Quantity of Earthy matter Greyish Light Fibrous of a Taste a little Brackish which amounted not to so much as 1 3000 of the weight of the Water The little Salt which was in this Sediment seem'd not different from Common Salt The Earth separated from the Salt being burnt in the Fire became came somewhat White It was not dissoluble in distil'd Vinaigre Of the Water of Montendre This Water taken at the same time with the former was Limpid but it scented of the Fen. During Evaporation it continued also Limpid only there appear'd toward the End very few Grey Mucilages and there remain'd at last less Sediment than in that of Pons consisting of a Grey Brackish Earth the Salt whereof had resemblance to Common Salt Of the Water of Fonsrouilleuse This Water being taken at the same time with the other was Limpid and likewise scented of the Fen. During Evaporation it continued also Limpid which being finisht the sides and bottom of the Vessels were found slightly lin'd with a little Sandy Earth Dark-Grey somewhat Brackish the Quantity whereof was somewhat more than that of the Sediment of the Water of Montendre and less than that of Pons The Salt of this Sediment did likewise resemble Common Salt Of the Water of Mans. The Water of the Mineral Spring of Mans being taken at the beginning of Summer was Limpid and without Taste During Evaporation there were form'd Concretions of little Ruddish Mucilages and the whole being evaporated there remain'd only a little Ruddish Earth without manifest Brackishness This Earth having been strongly burnt in the Fire receiv'd no apparent Change Of the Water of Belesme in Normandy This Water being taken in the Month of July was Limpid and Insipid During Evaporation it continued Limpid till towards the end when there appeared on the Surface of the remainder a certain subtil Film There remain'd at last very little Grey Insipid Earth and somewhat Rugged to the Feeling Of the Water of Verberie near Compiegne This Water taken at the end of June was Limpid and without Taste There was found at the bottom of the Bottles a little Ruddy Sediment and what was made by Evaporation was in very little Quantity being a Ruddy Leafy Earth and without Brackishness The Sixth CLASS Of Cold Waters having a Ferruginous or Austere Taste OF this sort are the Waters of Forges S. Paul de Rouen Bourberouge Menitoue Pont-Normand Montbosq Hebecrevon Provins Apougny and Vahls Of the Water of Forges in Normandy These Waters being taken at the end of the Summer had a Taste somewhat Ferruginous The several Waters of la Source Royale la Reynette la Cardinale being evaporated apart did all leave very little Sediment of a Dark-Ruddy Colour somewhat Brackish and what little Salt they had was like Common Salt and had no resemblance to Vitriol their Earths were also Ferruginous Of the Water of S. Paul de Rouen This Water taken toward the end of the Month of June was Limpid and without any manifest Taste except a light Roughness which imprest a Dryness upon the Tongue There was found at the bottom of the Bottles a small Quantity of Light Sediment of a Yellowish Colour inclining towards Ruddy During Evaporation there were form'd Ruddy Mucilages which precipitated to the bottom and there stuck to the sides of the Vessels a little Ruddy Earth the whole in very little Quantity and without manifest Brackishness This Earth being put into distil'd Vinaigre made it to take a Hyacinth-Colour but what gave it that Colour did afterwards precipitate in a Brown Powder Of the Waters of Bourberouge Menitoue Pont-Normand near Mortain in Normandy These Waters of l' Election de Mortain in Normandy were taken in the Spring-time The Water of Bourberouge hath receiv'd its Name from the Ruddy Earth which is found in its Rivulet resembling Rust of Iron It was Limpid and of a Taste somewhat Ferruginous Being evaporated it left about the Vessels a slight Ruddish Crust of a Saline Taste and at the bottom another small whitish and Insipid Crust The Waters of Menitoue and Pont-Normand were found altogether like to that of Bourberouge Of the Water of Montbosq in l'Election de Bayeux This Water being taken in the Spring-time was very Limpid and of a Taste somewhat resembling that of Iron The Sediment which it left after Evaporation was only a little Ruddy Earth of the Taste of Common Salt Of the
being freed from its Salt as much as could be by hot Water dissolv'd with great effervescence in Spirit of Vinaigre It contracted in the Fire a Remarkable Brackishness and its Whiteness became Greyish Of the Water of Chanonat near Clermont in Auvergne This Water being taken in Spring-time was very Limpid and inclining to somewhat Aigre It left after Evaporation a little Whitish Sediment which was heapt together in little Flakes amounting to about 1 1830 without mixture of any manifest Salt This Earth dissolv'd almost wholly with an Effervescence in Spirit of Vinaigre and became Reddish in the Fire Of the Water of Vernet near Senectaire in Auvergne This Water taken in the Beginning of the Spring-time was very Limpid of a Taste somewhat Aigre and Vinous In Evaporation its whole Surface was cover'd with a Fat Film The Sediment was in very small Quantity consisting of a little Leafy Greyish and Insipid Earth which in part dissolv'd in distill'd Vinaigre and being burnt in the Fire its Colour was darkned Of the Water of S. Pardoux in Bourbonnois This Water being taken in the Spring-time was also somewhat Aigre and Vinous Being evaporated it likewise left a small Quantity of Insipid Earth Of the Water of la Trauliére near S. Pardoux This Water taken in the beginning of Spring-time was Limpid its Taste was somewhat Aigre and Piquant It was evaporated without Films without Flakes and without being troubled and left a little Earthy Sediment of an Ash-Colour and of a Taste somewhat Saline The small Quantity of Salt which it contain'd was found to resemble that part of Sal-Marine which is Chrystalliz'd thro Cold and in a Humid Forasmuch as it troubled not the Dissolutions of Alcalies and true Nitres Of the Water of S. Parise in Nivernois This Water taken in the Spring-time was Limpid of a Taste somewhat Aigre which left a certain Harshness on the Tongue During Evaporation there were form'd on the Surface Broad and White Films The whole Sediment was 1 307 of the weight of the Water consisting of a Whitish Leafy Earth without mixture of Salt It was dissoluble in distill'd Vinaigre and chang'd not in the Fire The Eighth CLASS Of Cold Waters somewhat Aigre and Vinous which participate of a Salt resembling the Nitre of the Ancients OF this Quality are the Waters of Pougues S. Mion S. Floret Pont-Gibault Josse S. Arban Camarets and Vahls Of the Water of Pougues in Nivernois This Water taken in the Spring-time was Limpid of an Acid Taste and disagreeable to drink During Evaporation its Surface was cover'd with White Films which stuck to the sides of the Vessels according as the Water diminished There remain'd at last a Whitish Leafy Sediment of a Saline Taste amounting to 1 492 of the weight of the Water whence was drawn almost 1 3 Salt having the Qualities of the true Nitre which were known by Experiments like to those which were made on the Salt of the Hot Water of Bourbon L' Archam bault This Salt being melted in a Crucible on the Fire took a bright Red Colour which it kept being cool'd The Earth of this Sediment in part dissolv'd in distill'd Vinaigre Of the Water of S. Mion in Auvergne This Water taken in the Spring-time was Limpid somewhat Aigre and Vinous During Evaporation there were form'd some White Films swimming on its Surface which afterwards by degrees precipitated and stuck to the sides of the Vessels there being also made some little Flakes in the middle of the Water There remain'd at last a White Cloddy Substance of a Taste very Lixivial the weight whereof was 1 300 of the weight of the Water whence was separated almost 2 3 Salt which was Nitrous as that of the Water of Pougues This Salt being melted in a Crucible became only Greyish The Earth of the Sediment dissolv'd with Effervescence in distill'd Vinaigre and being burnt in the Fire became a little Reddish The Experiments on this Water having been resum'd at the instance of a Person of Great Quality who affirm'd to have receiv'd benefit by the Use thereof which he design'd to repeat it was observ'd that the Water sent by him was Limpid and somewhat Aigre It took no Colour with Galls and its weight exceeded not that of the Water of the Fountains of Paris which come from the Springs of Rongis by above 1 502. And altho this Water had no more sensible Acidity to the Taste yet it turn'd the Blew Tincture of Tournesole somewhat into Red giving it a Purple Colour This Water being put to Distillation in Balneo Mariae what pass'd first in very little Quantity did turn the Tincture of Tournesole less Red but it somewhat troubled the Water of the Dissolution of Mercury Sublimate which it did not before Distillation nor did that which afterwards distill'd What came at last did not turn Red the Tincture of Tournesole and altho it troubled not the Dissolution of Mercury Sublimate it remarkably troubled that of Vitriol and precipitated thence a Yellowish Powder What remain'd of Earth and Salt after Distillation was found like to what was observ'd and related before Of the Water of S. Floret near S. Cirque in Auvergne This Water taken in the Spring-season was Limpid and somewhat Aigre During Evaporation there were amass'd together certain little Ruddish Flakes which sticking to the sides of the Vessels form'd Gross Scales The Sediment was found Ruddish Leafy and Saline It amounted to 1 313 whence was drawn almost 1 2 Salt resembling the true Nitre This Salt being melted in a Crucible on the Fire became Ruddy and the Earth of the Sediment being freed from the Salt dissolv'd almost wholly in distill'd Vinaigre with great Effervescence and contracted in the Fire a certain Brackishness and Yellowish Colour Of the Water of Pont-Gibault in Auvergne This Water taken in the Spring-time as all the others of Auvergne which were sent to the Academy was Limpid somewhat Aigre and Vinous During Evaporation there appeared no Concretion till towards the end when there remain'd a White Sediment the weight whereof was 1 556 of the weight of the Water Wherein was found a little more than 1 2 Nitrous Salt resembling that of the Water of S. Mion The Earth of this Sediment in part dissolv'd in distil'd Vinaigre with an Effervescence and became a little Brown in the Fire without receiving any other manifest Alteration Of the Water of Josse lez Maringues The Water sent from Josse in the Spring-time was of two Springs the one call'd le Petit Bouillon the other le Grand Bouillon The former was very Limpid of a Taste somewhat Aigre a little Vinous leaving on the Tongue an Impression of Dryness During Evaporation there were form'd on the Surface little Films which precipitated in small Flakes and stuck to the sides of the Vessels The dry Sediment amounted to 1 345 of its weight whence was extracted more
watering of Cattle c. As for the Observations concerning the different Weights and Consistences of Mineral Waters they may be better made on the Places of their Springs where they are not yet alter'd either in Composition or Consistence which they certainly are being carried and kept having lost some part of those Vaporous substances which being mixt with them made their Consistence more Thin and Subtil or having contracted some Corruption which hath rendred them more Thick and almost Mucilaginous or having made a Precipitation of some Mineral Earthiness which being imperceptibly mixt with them renders them less Subtil and which is not ordinarily separated when they are drunk fresh at which time they are judg'd more efficacious than when they are kept The Instruments us'd by the Academy to observe the Weight and Consistence of Liquors were the Araiometre and the Compound Balance The Araiometre is a little hollow Globe of Glass having in its bottom a small Cavity to contain so much Quicksilver as is necessary to make this Globe sink in the Liquor wherein it may be put In its upper part is a little Pipe an Inch long and at the end of this Pipe there is a small Scale to receive the adjusted Weights which cause it to sink in different Liquors to a certain Mark made in the middle of this Pipe By this Instrument put in several Liquors is found not onely whether their Consistence be different but also how much the Difference is by the Observation of the Weight of the Instrument and of that which is put in the Scale to make it sink equally in divers Liquors The Compound Balance is an ordinary Balance moving easily and very exact to one of the Scales whereof is hung by some Horse-hairs a Cylinder of Tin or Leton well polish'd having about four Inches Height and as much Diametre to be able to take up in the Water the space which a Pint of Liquor of Paris Measure would take and of such a weight that it may sink in all sorts of Waters This Cylinder being put in the Water the Weight and Consistence whereof is to be observ'd there is put in the other opposite Scale of the Balance so much weight as is necessary to keep the two Scales Equipois'd and according to the difference of Weight which is requisite to keep this equal Poise in divers Waters judgment may be made of the difference of their Consistence and Weight in like Quantity And to know what is the Weight of this Quantity of Water which the Cylinder takes up the Weight put in the opposite Scale is to be substracted from that of the Cylinder This may be practis'd on Mineral Waters taken at their Springs and presently examin'd The like Observations may be made on Common Waters in ordinary Use as well for drinking as dressing of Victuals to the end that by the knowledge of their Properties judgment may be made what they contribute towards Health These Waters ordinarily call'd Common in distinction from Mineral being not altogether Pure and Simple may have acquir'd divers Proprieties by the diversity of Mixtures which in them are made either in the Air or Earth And altho they contain none of those Species of Minerals which may be refer'd to the middle Mineral or Metallic Gender the participation whereof gives the Name of Mineral to those Waters which are impregnated therewith nevertheless they have something Mineral for the Salts and Earths which are always mixt with them are Mineral Productions And in the most part of the Waters sent for Mineral whereon the Observations made in the Royal Academy are here related there was found only Salt and Earth in different Proportions The distinction between the Waters of this sort which are us'd only medicinally and those which are commonly made Use of in order to Aliment depending only upon More or Less of these mixtures The Common Waters which are esteem'd the best are the most Subtil Light and less Mixt. FINIS ADVERTISEMENT Martini Lister è S. R. Lond. de Fontibus Medicatis Angliae Exercitationes Duae Londini 1684. in 8o. THe Design of this Ingenious Author being to shew that in the several Mineral Waters of England whereon he had made Experiment were found only two sorts of Salts viz. Common Salt and a sort of Nitre call'd by him Nitrum Calcarium and only two sorts of Sediments viz. Ocre and Chalk-stone it may not be improper to mention this Book as confirming the Experiments of our French Virtuosi A TABLE Of the WATERS The Qualities whereof are examin'd in this Book A THe Water of Andabre at Pont de Camarets in Languedoc P. 96. Of Apougny near Seignelay in Burgundy 82. Of Availles in Poictou 70. Of Auteuil near Paris 72. B. The Water of Bagniéres in la Bigorre 45. Of Balleruc in Languedoc 43. Of Barbazan in le Commingeois 44. Of Bardon near Moulins 62. Of Baréges in la Bigorre 44. Of Belesme in Normandy 77. Of Besse near Mont d' Or in Auvergne 86. Of Biévre near Paris 73. Of Bourberouge near Mortain in Normandy 79. Of Bourbon Lancy in Bourbonnois 36. Of Bourbon L' Archambault in Bourbonnois 51. Of Bourbonne in Champagne 49. Of la Bourboule in the Parish of Murat de Quairs 41. C. The Water of Capvert in la Bigorre 69. Of Chanonat near Clermont in Auvergne 87. Of Chartres in Beausse 99. Of Chasteau-Gontier in Anjou 73. Of Chastelguyon near Rion in Auvergne 85. Of Chaudesaigues in the High Country of Auvergne 54. D. The Water of Digne in Provence 48. E. The Water of Encausse in le Commingeois 60. Of Evos in Combrailles from the Great Spring of the Baths 42. Of Evos from the little Spring of the Town 57. F. The Water of Fonsrouilleuse in Saintonge 76. Of Forges in Normandy 78. H. The Water of Hebecrevon near S. Lo in Normandy 80. I. The Water of Jaude in Auvergne 67. Of Jonas at Bourbon l'Archambault 70. Of Josse lez Maringues 94. M. The Water of Mans 77. Of Martres de Veyre in Auvergne 66. Of Menitoue in Normandy 79. Of Montbosq in Normandy 80. Of Mont d' Or in Auvergne 55. Of Montendre in Saintonge 76. N. The Water of Neris in Bourbonnois 56. P. The Water of Passi near Paris 72. Of Pons in Saintonge 75. Of Pont-Gibault in Auvergne 93. Of Pont-Normand in Normandy 79. Of Pougues in Nivernois 90. Of Premeau in Burgundy near Nuits 60. Of Provins 81. Of Prugniez at Pont de Camerets in Languedoc 96 R. The Water of la Rocheposay in Touraine 74. S. The Water of Sail lez Chasteau Morand 58. Of S. Arban in Forest 95. Of S. Floret near S. Cirque in Auvergne 93. Of S. Mion in Auvergne 91. Of S. Pardoux in Bourbonnois 88. Of S. Parise in Nivernois 89. Of S. Paul de Rouen 79. Of S. Pierre de Clermont in Auvergne 87. Of S. Reyne in Burgundy 71. Of Spa in the Country of Liege 102. T. The Water of la Trauliére in Bourbonnois 89. V. The Water of Vahls in Dauphiné from the Spring called la Dominique 83. Of Vahls from the Springs la Marquise and la Marie 97 Of Vaujour in the Dutchy of la Valliere 74. Of Verberie near Compiegne 77. Of Vernet in Auvergne 88. Of Vic in Carladois 65. Of Vic le Comte in Auvergne 63. Of Vichy in Bourbonnois de la Grille 57. Of Vichy from the Great Basin and the little Basins 62. FINIS
of Salts commonly known the Salts of these Waters might be referr'd 17. Whether they caus'd Mercury sublimate dissolv'd in common Water to precipitate in a Red ‡ Nacarate deep Crimson or Yellow colour and whether also they caus'd the Sulphurous Earth of common Vitriol to precipitate as do the true Nitre of the Ancients the Natron of Egypt and fossil Borax and also the Alcalisate or fixt Sulphurous Salts of Plants 18. Whether they changed into Green the Colour of Syrup of Violets and whether they restored the Blue colour of Tournesole made Red by some Aluminous Vitriolic or other Acid as the true Nitres do 19. Whether they made Tournesole to become Red as do Alum and Vitriol 20. Whether they caus'd the Liquor of the fixt Salt of Tartar dissolv'd to thicken and coagulate quickly as doth the Succulent and second Part of Common Salt which is not Condensed but by a Total Evaporation of the Water wherein the Salt hath been dissolved 21. VVhether they made any change in the VVater of the Dissolutions of Mercury Sublimate and Vitriol or on the colours of Tournesole and Syrup of Violets or on the Liquor of Salt of Tartar dissolv'd any more than Salt-Petre doth and the first Part of Common Salt which thro Cold Chrystallizes in a Humid 22. VVhether the Earthy Sediments of these VVaters after the Separation of their Salts were wholly or in part Dissoluble in Vinaigre distill'd and with a certain Effervescence as do some sort of Chalks and also the White Earth of the Coagulum of Nitrous and Alkali-Salts produc'd by the Mixture of the second part of Common Salt 23. Whether these Earthy Sediments freed from their Salts being put in the Fire and strongly burnt in Crucibles were fixt whether they chang'd Colour were Vitrified or Calcined or by the means of Reductive Salts there might be drawn forth somewhat Metallic or not 24. Whether if their Salts being purified after having been melted by the Fire in Crucibles of good Vitrified Earth they took any Colours extraordinary These Methods of examining Mineral Waters brought to the Academy seem'd very reasonable to give some knowledge of the Properties of them and even much greater than those who have hitherto writ on that Subject have ever had who for the most part have grounded their judgment only upon their Effects which may be referr'd to diverse Causes According to this Enquiry made upon a great number of Waters from different Springs as well Hot as Cold they have observ'd particularly Salts and Earths of divers Qualities and different Quantities The Salts which have been Condensed after Distillation or slow Evaporation of the Waters which have bâ—en brought to the Academy may be reduced to two Kinds the one to the Nitre of the Ancients which is a Sulphurous-Mineral Salt like to the Alkali of Plants the other to Common Salt considered in one or other of its different parts or according to the mixture of both together There hath not appeared in any of these Waters either Alum or true Viitriol The Waters as well Hot as Tepid wherein a Nitrous Salt was found at those of Bourbon l' Archambault Nerâ—â— Esvahon Mont d' Or Chaudesaigueâ— Vichy Vic le Comte Martres de Veyrâ— and Sail lez Chasteau Morand Cold Waters wherein the true Nâ—tre hath been observed are those oâ— Pougues S. Mion Pont-Gibault S. Flâ—ret Petit Jaude Jaude au Champ de Pauvres Beaurepaire Josse Vic 〈◊〉 Carladois S. Alban Andabre Camarets and Prugniez The Hot Waters whose Salt hathâ— resemblance with Common Salt considered in Conjunction of its two different Parts are those of Bourbon Lancy la Bourboule Barbazan Encausse Balleruc Bagniéres and Baréges The Cold Waters which also have the like Common Salt are those of Capvert and some others which have but a little as those of Besse Pons en Saintonge la Rocheposay Vaujour Chasteau-Gontier Premeau and Provins Likewise the Waters Cold in their Springs whose Salt may be referred to that Part of Common Salt which is Chrystallized thro Cold in a Humid are those of la Trauliere S. Pierre de Clermont and some few others But those whose Salt seems to be like that part of Common Salt which is condens'd only by a total Evaporation of the Water wherein the Salt hath been dissolved are in greater number and more considerable as those of S. Reyne Chastelguyon Availles Digne c. All these Observations of the Diversity of Salts which have been found in these Waters are General The two Genders of Salts Nitrous and Common whereunto those of these Waters are referr'd do each comprehend several Species whose Specific Differences are not easily comprehended and the mixtures of these several Species together are still in a greater number and less known The Differences observed between the Nitrous Salts of these Waters by melting them by Fire in small Crucibles have been these Some have become Blew as doth the Salt of Tartar such were those of Martres de Veyre Josse and Sail lez Chasteau Morand Others took a Green Colour as doth Salt-Petre Alcaliz'd by Coal so did those of the Waters of Neris and Esvahon Others became Yellow as that of the Water of Vichy Others became Ruddy as those of the Waters of Chaudesaigues Mont d' Or and S. Floret Others became Tawny as those of the Waters of Bourbon l' Archambaut Andabre and Prugniez Others became Red as those of the Waters of Pougues Jaude Beaurepaire and S. Alban Others became only Greyish as those of the Waters of Vic le Comte and S. Mion Others changed not their Colour as that of the VVaters of Vic en Carladois As to the Differences observed between the Salts which may be referred to the Gender of Common Salt beside those of the two different Saline substances before mentioned whereof the one is Chrystalliz'd thro Cold in a Humid and which troubleth not the VVater of the Dissolution of Salt of Tartar and the other which is not condens'd but by a total Evaporation of the VVater wherein this Salt is dissolved and which in an instant coagulates the Dissolution of the Salt of Tartar and of true Nitre there have been remarked few other Particular differences Those of the VVaters of divers Springs of Bagniéres being melted by Fire in the Crucibles exhal'd forth Vapours which rendred the Flame of the Coals Blew and afterwards these Salts being cool'd became of a clear Lacque-Colour That of the VVater of Balleruc was difficult to melt and became Greyish That of the VVater of Availles crackled in the Fire as doth Sal-Marine That of the VVater of S. Reyne had a certain subtil Acrimony as that of Sal Armoniac Others had nothing Particular which was manifest There was not had much regard to the Observations of the Forms and Figures of each of these Salts as well Nitrous as Common in their Condensation because these did vary in the same Salts according to the manner and degree of the Evaporation of the VVater wherein they
were dissolv'd in order to be purified The Quantity of Salt as well Nitrous as Common wherewith each of these Mineral VVaters are Impregnated cannot always be precisely determined it being not always equal in the VVaters of the same Springs according to the Constitutions of the Air wet or dry and other Accidents 'T is sufficient to remark only the Differences of much little or middle Quantity The waters which have been observ'd to have a remarkable and great Quantity of a Salt like to true Nitre are those of Bourbon l' Archambaut Vichy Mont d' Or Vic le Comte Martres de Veyre S. Mion S. Floret and Andabre Those which have but a Mediocrity are those of Chaudesaigues Pougues Pont-Gibault S. Alban Jaude Beaurepaire Josse Vic en Carladois and Prugniez And those which have little are those of Neris Esvahon and Sail. The Salt which was found to have a resemblance with Common Salt was abundant in the VVaters of Balleruc la Bourboule Chastelguyon and Availles There was a moderate Quantity in those of Bourbon Lancy Bagniéres Encausse and Digne But there was very little in those of B aréges Capvert Barbazan la Trauliére Besse Pons en Saintonge la Rocheposay Vaujour Chasteau-Gontier S. Reyne Premeau Provins Forges S. Paul de Rouen Belesme Hebecrevon Reuilly la Taille Menetou Bourberouge Vaux Montigny Montbosq and Pont-normand There was no manifest Salt found in those of S. Pardoux Bardon Chanonat Mans c. There hath not been found in any of these VVaters either Alum or Vitriol discernible in their Sediments These substances which are reckoned in the rank of Mineral Salts are Concrete Juices condens'd by Evaporation of the superabundant Humidity dissolving them They participate of much Earthiness very fixt and their Acid Spirits are not separated but by great Heat which raiseth them with an Augmentation of a Corrosive Acidity The Taste somewhat Aigre or Vinous must needs proceed from other mixtures than those of Alum or Vitriol since it is so easily lost in the open Air when these VVaters are exposed thereto for a few days and more speedily when they are a little warmed In the Distillation of these VVaters in Balneo Mariae this Acidity is neither found in what is distill'd nor in what remains in the Alembic where no other Salts are to be found but Nitrous or Common Only the VVater of Vahls in Dauphiné from a certain Spring called la Dominique left after Distillation a certain Salt having some resemblance to White Vitriol It was of a Taste a little Vitriolic sweetish and somewhat Styptic This Salt being dissolv'd in Common Water made the Tincture of Tournesole to become Red almost as Vitriol doth and being mixt with the Salt of Tartar dissolv'd also in Common Water became Black as Ink and precipitated a Black Earth It being otherwise with White Vitriol which doth not so much blacken with the Salt of Tartar It were proper to enquire whether this Water of la Dominique be Emetic as that wherein Vitriol is dissolved and whether it produceth Effects like to those Waters wherein there is a True Compleat Vitriol The Brownish-Red or Purple Colour which Acid Mineral Waters take by the Infusion of certain substances which with Vitriol make Ink is no certain sign that Vitriol is the Cause of the Acidity of these Waters in the most part whereof there is no Vitriol but a Sulphurous Nitre capable to absorb Vitriolic and Aluminous Acidities There were found in certain Sulphurous Earths Vaporous Juices not Coagulable which are Acid and do seem to be Vitriolic Seminaries which may in time gain by degrees Concretions approaching to those of Vitriols These Vaporous Juices meeting with the Waters of certain Springs may give them a Vaporous Acidity but which is easily lost as those of the Waters of Pougues S. Mion Vic le Comte Vic en Carladois Martres de Veyre S. Parise la Trauliére Besse and several others Tho when these Juices have any beginning of Concretion there remains some part in the Sediments after the Distillation of the Water as in that of la Dominique which nevertheless lost its Acidity by Heat As for the Earths which have been found in different Quantity in the Mineral Waters examin'd by the Academy the particular Distinction of their Species hath been more difficult than that of the Species of their Salts There was found much Earth in the Waters of Petit Bain Bain de la Reyne and the Spring of la Forgue at Bagniéres also in those of Barbazan Encausse Prugniez and Chastelguyon Moderately in those of the Grand Bain Bain de S. Roch de Bagniéres Capvert Andabre Bourbon l'Archambault Vic le Comte Martres de Veyre S. Floret Pierre de Clermont Jaude Josse Digne Pougues and Passi Little in those of the Spring of Salut de Bagniéres and in those of Baréges Chaudesaigues Mont d' Or Vic en Carladois S. Mion Besse Vernet Chanonat Pont-Gibault la Bourboule S. Alban Sail la Trauliére Vichy Bourbon Lancy Neris Esvahon Pons en Saintonge Montendre la Fonsrouilleuse la Rocheposay Vaujour Chasteau-Gontier Premeau S. Reyne Provins Mans and in all those of Normandy There was no manifest Earth found in the Waters of Balleruc and Availles the Sediments whereof were wholly Saline The most part of these Earths were White and Subtil as those of the Waters of Bagniéres Capvert Barbazan Encausse Andabre Prugniez Vic en Carladois Vic le Comte Martres de Veyre Besse Vernet Chastelguyon S. Pierre de Clermont Jaude Pont-Gibault la Bourboule Josse S. Alban Sail Neris Esvahon S. Parise the two Bourbons and Pougues Others were Grey as those of the Waters of Baréges Mont d' Or Chaudesaigues S. Floret Chanonat Vichy Bardon S. Pardoux la Trauliére Pons la Rocheposay Chasteau-Gontier S. Paul de Rouen Belesme Premeau and S. Reyne Others Ruddy as those of the Waters of Vaujour Mans Provins Forges and almost all the other Waters of Normandy In Evaporation of all these Waters their Earths were in different Forms some in that of Films swimming a top as those of the Waters of Capvert Barbazan Encausse Vic en Carladois Vic le Comte Martres de Veyre Vernet S. Alban Vichy Pougues S. Parise and Pons Others in Flakes as those of the Waters of Baréges Andabre Prugniez S. Floret Chanonat S. Pierre la Bourboule and Josse Others in Mucilages as those of the Waters of Chaudesaigues Vic en Carladois Montendre Vaujour Mans and Premeau Others in Clods as those of the Waters of Vic le Comte and S. Mion Others in Chaffy form as those of the Waters of Chastelguyon Besse Bardon and S. Pardoux Others in small sandy Grains as those of the Waters of la Fonsrouilleuse la Rocheposay and S. Reyne Others in a subtil Brown Powder as those of the Waters of Provins and almost all those of Normandy There have been also observed some other Differences of these Earths by putting them in distill'd Vinaigre and burning them strongly in the Fire
great Quantity of this Nitrous Salt doth necessarily conclude this Water more proper for Bathing than Drinking for in lb iv of Water there was found of Salt ʒiij This Salt having been melted in the Fire became Yellowish It s Earth in part dissolv'd in distill'd Vinaigre and changed not by the Fire Of the Water of Sail lez Chasteau-Moraud The Water of Sail was Limpid and agreeable to drink having no Taste It was taken in the Spring-time Being evaporated it left very little Sédiment which was Greyish Leafy of a Nitrous and Lixivial Taste The small Quantity of Salt found therein had resemblance to true Nitre One part of this Sediment not freed from its Salt being put in a Crucible on the Fire did melt and became Blew as doth Salt of Tartar which hath been a long time melting The Third CLASS Of Tepid Insipid Waters whereof some did partake of a little Salt others had none THe Number of Tepid Insipid Waters which have been examined in the Academy hath not been great There were only those of Encausse Premeau Bardon and two Springs of Vichy This Class being not large by reason of the small Number of this Sort of Waters the other Differences of these Waters taken from the Diversity of their Salts have not been so much considered as to make separate Classes Of the Water of Encausse in le Commingeois This Water being taken in the middle of the Spring-time was very Limpid without any Taste very manifest except that it was a little Austere During the Evaporation made by a Gentle Heat the surface of this Water was cover'd with White Films broad and thick like to those which are made in the Dissolution of Quick-lime in Common Water The whole Sediment was found to be 1 290 White substance whence was separated almost 1 3 Salt which was like to Common Salt according to the Experiment practis'd on that of the Water of Bourbon Lancy Being melted by the Fire it became Whiter than before Of the Water of Premeau in Burgundy near Nuits This Water being taken at the end of the Summer was Limpid and without Taste agreeable enough to drink and had a certain Detersive Quality To find out whether this Water participated of any Bituminous Substance of the Scent of Amber as hath been written it was distill'd in Glass-Alembics in Balneo Mariae What came over into the Recipients had no Scent and appear'd not different from that which was not put to Distillation Neither was there found any Sediment which had either the Consistence or Scent of Amber or Bitumen It was also evaporated in Earthen Vessels by a Gentle Heat but what was evaporated had no Scent During the Operation there was seen to swim in this Water certain little Grey Mucilages and towards the end the Surface of the Water was cover'd with a Grey Sandy Film and the sides of the Vessels were lin'd with a Subtil Grey Sand. Towards the bottom were Mucilages which had nothing Bituminous These Mucilages being dried were reduc'd to a Leafy Earth and the whole Sediment as well Leafy as Sandy was in very little Quantity and amounted but to 1 5120 of the weight of the Water In this Sediment there was a little Salt of the Taste and Quality of Common Salt The Earth was not Dissoluble in Spirit of Vinaigre Being put on the Fire and burnt it became White Of the Water of Bardon near Moulins This Water being taken in the Spring-time was Limpid and Insipid Being evaporated it left but very little Greyish Leafy Earth without any manifest Salt Of the Water of the Tepid Springs of Vichy in Bourbonnois The Water of the Great Basin which is said to be somewhat Acid in its Spring was found Insipid being brought hither In Evaporation there were form'd little Films on the surface and after Evaporation the Sediment was 1 176 of the Weight of the Water which consisted of a Salt mixt with 1 22 Greyish Fibrous Earth which was separated from it This Salt was of a Nitrous Quality as that of the Grille of the same place Being melted in a Crucible on the Fire it took a Tawny Colour The Water of the little Basins was somewhat Aigre and resembling that of the great Basin It s Salt was alike and in the same Proportion The Fourth CLASS Of Waters Tepid somewhat Aigre or Vinous which have some participation of true Nitre OF this sort were the Waters of Vic le Comte Vic en Carladois Martres de Veyre Jaude Champ des Pauvres and Beaurepaire Of the Water of Vic le Comte in Auvergne This Water of Vic le Comte from the Fountain du Cornet taken in the Spring time was very Limpid of a Taste somewhat Aigre and Vinous It left no Impression of Dryness on the Tongue Because the Acidity of this and other like Waters which receive a Tincture with Galls Pomegranate-Bark Myrobalans c. as do those wherein there is Vitriol may seem to proceed from a participation of some Vitriolic Vapours it was resolved to see whether by Distillation there could be separated any Spirit different from the rest of the Water Wherefore it being put to distil in Glass-Alembics by a very Gentle Heat there was carefully observ'd whether there did arise any Acrimonious Vapour like to that which affects the Nose of them who drink those Waters which are somewhat Aigre and Vinous at their Rise from their Springs But what did rise and distil from the very beginning had neither Scent nor Taste and what remain'd in the Alembics instead of Acidity had only a little Brackishness which was augmented toward the End of the Distillation By these Experiments repeated on other Waters which were likewise somewhat Aigre it may be judg'd that the Acidity of these Waters proceeds from some subtil Mineral Vapour not Condensable or which easily changeth its Acidity into Brackishness This Water of Vic le Comte was also evaporated in open Vessels and it was observ'd that during the Evaporation there were form'd on the Surface little Films which settled to the bottom in the form of little stony Clods The Evaporation being finish'd there remain'd 1 192 White Sediment whence was drawn almost 2 3 Salt resembling true Nitre This Salt being melted on the Fire in a Crucible swelled not and became only Greyish The Earth of this Sediment which was White being burnt in the Fire became Reddish It dissolv'd in part in distil'd Vinaigre Of the Water of Vic in Carladois This Water taken at the same time with the former was found very Limpid and of a Taste somewhat Aigre There were form'd in Evaporation very subtil White Films on the Surface of the Water towards the end whereof there was made a White Sediment Mucilaginous of a Saline Taste which being Dry amounted but to 1 920 of the Weight of the Water wherein was a Moity of Salt having a Nitrous Quality which being melted by the Fire
changed not its Colour The Earth of this Sediment dissolv'd in part in distil'd Vinaigre and being strongly burnt in the Fire became Greyish and somewhat Brackish Of the Water of Martres de Veyre in Auvergne This Water taken from the Rock of the Baths in the Spring-time was very Limpid of a Taste somewhat Aigre and Vinous leaving on the Tongue a certain impression of Dryness There was found in the Bottles a small Quantity of Ruddish Sediment During Evaporation there were form'd Films White and very Subtil swimming thereon which settling fixt themselves round about the Vessels The Sediment of the whole Water evaporated to Dryness was White of a Saline Taste and its Quantity amounted to 1 18◠of the weight of the Water whence was drawn almost a Moity of Nitrous Salt This Salt having been melted on the Fire in a Crucible became of a Blewish Colour The Earth being plac'd on the Fire was strongly burnt chang'd its Colour very little but it became Cloddy and contracted a certain Brackishness Before and after the Ignition it dissolv'd almost wholly in distil'd Vinaigre with an Effervescence as doth the Earthy White and Insipid substance which results from the mixture of the true Nitre or of any Alkali with that part of Common Salt which is not Condens'd thro Cold and in a Humid Of the Water of Jaude in Auvergne There were brought in the Spring-time Waters from three Springs of Jaude which are the little Spring of Jaude that of Champ des Pauvres and that of Beaure-paire The Water of the first was very Limpid of a Taste somewhat Aigre or Vinous and left a certain Impression of Dryness on the Tongue In pouring out the Water from the Bottles in order to evaporation there were found at the bottom some Sediments of a Feuille-morte Colour which were separated During Evaporation the Water was not troubled nor had therein either Films or Flakes What remain'd dry amounted to 1 553 of the weight of the Water being a Greyish substance containing almost a Moity of Salt which had resemblance to true Nitre and which being melted on the Fire in a Crucible took a Red Colour The Earth of this Sediment dissolv'd almost wholly in distil'd Vinaigre with much Effervescence but changed not in the Fire The Water of Champ des Pauvres was altogether like to the former its Sediments alike and its Salt also Nitrous That of Beaurepáire had nothing different from the other two The Salts of these three Waters having been melted apart on the Fire in Crucibles took a Red Colour more or less deep according to the different degree of the Fire The Fifth CLASS Of Cold Insipid Waters which participate somewhat of a Salt resembling Common Salt and some others in the Sediments whereof no Salt was found OF this sort were the Waters of Capvert Availles the Spring of Jonas at Bourbon l' Archambault S. Reine Auteuil Biévre Passy Chasteau-Gontier Vaujour la Rocheposay Pons Montendre la Fronsrouilleuse Mans Belesme and Verberie Of the Water of Capvert in la Bigorre This Water taken in the middle of the Spring-time was Limpid without Scent or Taste In Evaporation by a very Gentle heat there were form'd on the Surface of the Water White Films like to those which are made upon Water wherein Marle Calcin'd hath been put The Sediment of the whole Water evaporated was 1 748 whence was separated 1 4 Salt resembling Sal-Marine considered in the Conjunction of its two different parts The Earth of the Sediment of this Water lost not its Whiteness in the Fire and remain'd after a very strong Ignition without any manifest Change The Salt also being melted in a Crucible on the Fire changed not its Colour Of the Water of Availles in Poictou This Water taken in the beginning of Autumn was Limpid and of a Taste somewhat Brackish In Evaporation there was form'd on the Surface a Film which cover'd it all over the matter whereof was rough both to the Feeling and Taste as a very fine Sand or Cream of Tartar pulveriz'd There were no Mucilages made therein and toward the end of the Evaporation the Water became very Brackish There remain'd at the bottom 1 230 pure Salt very Acrimonious partly in great Cubical Grains like the Salt of Brouage partly in a solid Mass This Salt caus'd the Liquor of Salt of Tartar dissolv'd to coagulate as doth the second part of Sal-Marine Being put in a Crucible on the Fire to melt it crackled as Common Salt afterwards it exhal'd a Scent of Spirit of Salt and after having been melted it became Grey Of the Water of Jonas at Bourbon l' Archambault This Water being taken in the beginning of the Spring-time was Limpid and without manifest Taste Being evaporated it left only 1 812 leafy Sediment very White encompassed with some Ruddish Earthiness This Sediment had so little Brackishness that it was not sensible to the Taste Nevertheless it thickned the Liquor of Salt of Tartar dissolv'd as doth the second part of Sal-Marine This Earth in part dissolv'd in distil'd Vinaigre but chang'd not in the Fine Of the Water of S. Reyne in Burgundy This Water taken in the beginning of Summer was Limpid without Scent or Taste and agreeable to drink During Evaporation the Surface of the Water was cover'd with a Subtil Grey Film Sandy and Insipid and toward the end it became thicker The whole being evaporated there was found only 1 1036 Sediment partly in White Leaves very fine and partly in Ruddish Gum of a very Acute Saline Taste and almost as Piquant as Sal Armoniac The Salt of this Sediment being dissolv'd in Common Water and mixt with the Tincture of Tournesole did not turn it Red as do Alum and Vitriol neither did it precipitate Mercury Sublimate dissolv'd in Common Water as doth the true Nitre But it did coagulate strongly the Liquor of Salt of Tartar dissolv'd as doth the second part of Sal-Marine which Salt-Petre and Sal-Gem do not Of the Water of Auteuil near Paris This Water being taken in the beginning of the Summer was Limpid and Insipid During Evaporation it continued Limpid without Films or Flakes Toward the end there was separated a very little Sediment which being dry'd was found to be White ' and of a Saline Taste It s weight was only 1 5500 of the weight of the Water The Salt of this Sediment had resemblance to that part of Common Salt which is Chrystalliz'd thro Cold. Of the Water of Passy near Paris This Water being taken at the beginning of Summer was not very Limpid It appeared Whitish and its Taste seem'd to be Plastrous It left a certain Roughness and Dryness on the Tongue During Evaporation it forc'd out on its Surface certain Little Grey Discontinued Films and left 1 700 Sediment partly in Grey Leaves partly in Glistering Fibres like Crude Plaster This Sediment contain'd 1 7 Salt which had resemblance to the second
than 1 ◠Ruddish Salt of a Lixivial Scent and which was discover'd to be Nitrous It became Blewish after having been melted in the Fire The Earth freed from this Salt in part dissolv'd with an Effervescence in distil'd Vinaigre and chang'd not its Colour by the Fire The Water of the latter had a Vinous Taste stronger than the other but its Sediments were alike and its Salt likewise Nitrous Of the Water of S Arban in Forest This Water taken in the Spring-time was very Limpid somewhat Aigre and a little Vinous During Evaporation made by a gentle heat there were form'd on the Surface whitish Films Subtil Insipid and Sandy being Rough to the Feeling and Taste as a very fine Sand. The whole dry Sediment was 1 640 Whitish Leafy Substance of a Lixivial Taste whence was drawn about 1 2 Nitrous Salt condens'd in Thick Tablets The Earth of this Sediment dissolv'd almost wholly with an Effervescence in distil'd Vinaigre and took by the Fire a small Redness as of Clear-Lacque Of the Water of Pont de Camarets in Languedoc At Pont de Camarets between the Dioceses of S. Pons Alby and Castres there are two Springs of Cold Water distant two hundred Paces one from another the highest call'd the Spring of Andabre the lowest the Spring of Prugniez the former being sent in the Month of May was Limpid and of a Taste a little Vinous Being put to evaporate there were form'd no Films on its Surface but there precipitated a Whitish Earth in little Flakes The dry Sediment was found to be 1 262 having more than 3 4 Nitrous Salt The Earth of this Sediment being put in distil'd Vinaigre dissolv'd almost wholly with an Effervescence Being strongly burnt in a Crucible on the Fire it became almost Vitrified Another part of this Earth being mixt with an equal part of its Salt and put on the Fire to melt in part pierc'd thro the Crucible which was found on the outside as it were lin'd with a Brown Email and the inside of the Crucible was cover'd with a Clear-Red Email The remainder of this substance became White at the bottom of the Crucible after having swell'd very much The other Water was very Limpid and of a Taste more Vinous than the former during Evaporation there were not form'd any Films swimming on the Surface but only little White Flakes which precipitated to the bottom The wholedry Sediment was 1 384 of the weight of the Water and that Quantity was proportionally less than that of the Sediment of the Water of Andabre It contain'd also less Salt which was only a Moity being Nitrous as the other and its Earth was less Dissoluble in distill'd Vinaigre and less Fusible in the Fire Of the Water of Vahls from the Springs la Marquise and la Marie Near Vahls in Dauphiné there are four Springs of Mineral Water which are la Dominique S. Jean la Marquise la Marie The Water of the first being different from the other the Experiments thereon have been refer'd to the Sixth Class The Water of the Spring of S. Jean said to be a little Tepid and somewhat Aigre was not sent to the Academy because it had the same Qualities with the latter being only a little more weak The Water of la Marquise the Spring whereof is near that of S. Jean is Cold. 'T is said its Taste is somewhat Aigre and a little stronger than that of S. Jean and that it purges more as well by Siege as Urine When we receiv'd this Water its Taste seem'd rather Brackish than Acid and it was judg'd that the Acidity which it hath in its Spring was weakned by Carriage After Evaporation it left only a Nitrous Salt without mixture of Earth being 1 135 White and very Lixivial It precipitated in a Minim Colour Mercury Sublimate dissolv'd in common Water as doth Salt of Tartar and made a great Effervescence with the Spirit of Common Salt as do the Acrimonious Sulphurous Salts The Water of the Spring la Marie which is not far from la Marquise hath more Acidity than the other according to report and makes those who drink of it to urine more We found therein no Acidity but only a little Brackishness as in the former The Salt of its Sediment was found alike and in less Quantity being only 1 197. Additions of the Mineral Waters of Chartres and Spa. THe design'd Impression of these Observations having been a long time hindred in order to joyn this Treatise with other Works of the Naturalists of this Assembly hath given occasion to add here the Experiments made on a Mineral Water lately discover'd near the City of Chartres and also on the Water of Spa which was brought for the use of the Queen Of the Water of Chartres in Beausse This Water being brought to the Laboratory of the King's Library toward the end of the Summer scented somewhat of the Mud. It took not with Galls that dark Red which is said that it takes newly from its Spring Which happens to several weak Mineral Waters which presently lose that disposition in the Air. Being put to distil by a gentle heat what pass'd first differ'd very little from what distill'd last and the whole appear'd nothing different from Common Water The dry Sediment of lb viii of this Water distill'd weighed only Gr. xx which contain'd but Gr. iv of a Ruddy and Gummous Salt of an Acrimonious Taste and resembling that of the Salt which is drawn from Common Earth The remainder was a subtil Powder of a Grey Ruddish Colour which dissolv'd not in distill'd Vinaigre There was perceiv'd in this Water but little of Vaporous Sulphureity This Water according to the Observations made thereon ought to be rang'd in the Seventh Class The Cures which many Persons troubled with divers Distempers have said to have receiv'd by the Use thereof have excited the Curious to examine well its Qualities upon the place and the Conditions of its Springs They have observ'd that this Water was found in several places of a Meadow near the Walls of the City between the two Arms of the River in certain Furrows whence it springs and runs towards one of the Channels This Water being newly sprung out of the Earth hath the Propriety of extracting a Tincture from Galls but there are other Furrows where the Water having no Course loseth by standing in the Air this Propriety And because in all the Ditches newly made in this Meadow there is found Water having the same Taste and doing the same effect with Galls and that in some places of the Caussey which separateth the Channel of the River from the Meadow there runs a Water which hath also this Propriety of extracting a Tincture from Galls it hath been judg'd that all the Water of the Meadow comes from this River and that it takes a Mineral Quality in passing thro this Earth which renders it wholesom and proper for the Cure of many Diseases