[ I7 I 3

VIII. Observations onthe Sulphur IV at Harrogate, made

' July and Auguft, 1785. Bythe Right Reve
Lord Bi/hopof Landaff, F, R+
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Read February 2, 1786.

T'fj 1733, when Do&or Short firft publifhed his Treatife on

I A Mineral W aters, there were only three fulphur wells at
I H arrogate; there are now four. I made fome inquiry refpe&ing
I the time and occalion of making the fourth well, and received
| the following account from an old man, who was himfelf
3 principally concerned in the tranfa£tion. About forty years
| ago, a perfon who, by leafe from the Earl of B urlington ,
I had acquired a right of fearching for minerals in the foreft o f
S Knarefborough, made a Ihew as if he had a real intention of
j for coal, on the very fpot where the three fulphur
| wells were fituated. T his attempt alarmed the apprehenfion9
of the inn-keepers and others at Harrogate, who were inte-
refted in the prefervation of the w ells: they gave him w hat
legal oppofition they could, and all the illegal that they durft.
At length, for the fum of one hundred pounds, which they
raifed amongft themfelves, the difpute was compromifed, and
! the defign real or pretended of digging for coal was abandoned.
I Sulphur water, however, had rifen up where he had begun to
Jr dig. They inclofed the'place with a little flone edifice, and
putting down a bafon, made a fourth well. By a claufe in
the a£t of parliament for inclofing Knarefborough Forefl, pafi'ed
Z 2 in
 172 Bi/hop of L and a ff ’s Qbfervations on
in 177°, it is rendered unlawful for any perfon whatever to
link any pit, or dig any quarry or mine, whereby the medi-1
cinal fprings or waters at Harrogate may be damaged or pol-ic
lu te d ; fa that no attempts of the kind above-mentioned need $
be apprehended in future.
This fourth well is that which is neareft to one of the barns v
of the Crown-Inn, being about ten yards diftant from it. In d ig -f
ging, a few years fince, the foundation of that barn, they met |)
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with fulphur water in feveral places. At a very little diftancer:

from the four wells there are two others of the fame kind; o n e !
in the yard of the Half-Moon-Inn, difcovcred in digging for 1
common water in 1783, and another which breaks out on the si
fide of the rivulet below that Inn. On the banks of that rivulet 5:
I law feveral other fulphureous fprings *. they are eafily diftin-* *
guilhed by the blacknefs of the earth over which they flow. A
On the declivity of a hill, about a quarter of a mile to the weft fi
of the fulphur wells at Harrogate, there is a bog which has been r
formed by the rotting o f wood: the earth of the rotten wood is a
in fome places four feet in thicknefs,and there is a ftratum confift-B
ing of clay, and fmall loofe decaying fand-ftones,every where un- li
der it. T he hill above is of grit-ftone. In this bog there are four h
more fulphur w ells; one at the top, near the rails which feparate jsi
the bog from the C om m on; and three at the bottom, though 1
one of thefe, ftri&ly fpeaking, is not in the bog but at the I
iide of it in the ftratum on which the bog is fituated, and at
the diftance of a yard or two from a rivulet of frefh water, ?|
which runs from thence to Low Harrogate, paffingclbfe to
the fide but above the level of the fulphur wells of that place.
On the other fide of the hill, above the bog, and to the weft [
of it, there is another fulphur well on the fide of a brook; and '
it has been thought that the wells both at Harrogate and in the
hog I
 the Sulphur Wells at Harrogate. *73
bog are fupplied from this well. In a low ground, between
High Harrogate and Knarefborough, there is a fulphur w ell;
another to the north of it in Bilton Park, at about thediftance
of a mile; and another to the fouth of it, at a lefs diftance,
| was difeovered this year in digging for common water by a
sperfon of the name of R ichardson ; and, laftly, there is
j another at a place called Hookftone C ra g : none of thefe laft
I mentioned wells are above two miles diftant from High Harro-
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I g a te ; and by an accurate fearch a great many more m ight,

I probably, be difeovered in the neighbourhood.
It is not unufual to dig within a few yards of any of thefe
mfulphur wells, and to meet w ith water which is not fuR
Iphureous. I ordered a well to be dug in the fore-mentioned
Jbog, fixteen yards to the fouth of the fulphur well which is
3 near the rails, and to the fame depth With i t ; the water w ith

J which it was prefently filled was chalybeate, but in no degree

J fulphureous. I had another well dug, at about thirty yards
diftance from the three fulphur wells which are iituated at the
lower extremity of the bog; thiswell* by the declivity of the
jground, was ten or twelve feet below their level, but its water
was not fulphureous. From the firft Well which I dug, it is
evident, that every part of the bog does not yield fulphur w a­
ter ; and from the fecond, which was funk into the clay, it is
[if clear that every part of the flratum on which the bog is placed
does not yield it, though one of the wells is fituated in it.
The fulphur wells at Harrogate are a great many feet below
the level of thofe in the bog; but they communicate w ith
them, if we may rely on what Do&or Short has told us —•
T h at about the beginning of this century, when the con-
eourfe of people was very great to the Spaw at Harrogate, one
R obert W ard, an old man, made a bafon in the clay under
the
 174 Bijhop of L an d a ff ’s Obfervntiom on
the mofs of a bog where the flrongefl and brilkefl o f thefe ful-* f
phur fprings rife, and gathered half an hoglhead of water at I
a time for the ufe of the poor; bat when he laded this he f
almoft dried the three fulphur wells at the village, whence it is i
evident, that all have the fame origin and communicate with I '
one another.” By converting with fome of the oldefl and r
moll intelligent people at Harrogate, I could not find that th ey ff
entertained any opinion of the water at the bog having a commu- -j
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nication with that at the fpaw. T his circumflance might eafily®

beafcertained; and, if the fa£t fhould be contrary to what D odor r
S hort fuppofed, the wells at the bog ought to be covered from®1
the weather as tfoofe at the village are; they would by this
mean yield great plenty of water for the baths which a r e l ‘
wanted by invalids, and which are often very fcantily fup- r
plied by the wells at Harrogate, notwithflanding the attention !
which is ufed in preferving the water which fprings at the J
four wells, by emptying them as often as they become full I?
during both the day and night time. And indeed it is fur- §
prifing, that the wpllon the fide of the riv
Half-Moon-Inn, which is fo well fituated for the purpofe, has ft
never been inclofed for the furnifhing fulphureous water for I'
the baths. T he prefent mode o f carrying the water in calks®
•to the feveral houfes where the perfons lodge who want to f
bathe in it, is very troublefome, and the water thereby lofes o f I
its virtue. Some of the wells about the village, that for in ^ ||
fiance which has been dilcovered at the Half-Moon-Inn, the j
water of which, I believe, fprings from a different fource from I
that which fupplies the four fulphur wells, lhould be either
enlarged to a greater horizontal breadth, or funk to a greater |
depth, in order to try, by one or both of thefe ways, whether
the quantity and flrength of the water might not be increafed; i
2 and b
 theSulphur Wells at Harrogate, T t*
I /5
and if that fhould, as it probably would be the cafe, one or
more baths might be eredled after the manner of thofe at Bux­
ton and other places; or, by proper additional buildings, warm
bathing in fulphureous water m ight be pra&ifed, as is done in
common water in the bagnios in London. T he faltnefs of the
fulphureous water, if that fhould be thought ufeful, might
eafily be made even greater than that of fea water, by adding a
quarter of a. pound of common fait to every gallon of the
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water ufed in forming a bath. T he waters at Harrogate,

though they have long been very beneficial, have not yet been
rendered fo ufeful to mankind, as an intelligent and enter-
prifing perfon might make them. T h e alternate ftrata of fand,.
ftone, andfhale, which compofe the lower hills near the wells ■
at Harrogate, dip very much, as may be feen in a ftone quarry
about two hundred yards from the w ells; and the fame cir*
cumftance may be obferved in dry weather, in following the'
1 bottom of the brook from the village up to the bog ; and
mhence, if there be a communication between the waters of the
k bog and of the village,, as Dodlor S hort aflerts, it is probable,
| that the fame ftxatum of (hale which is feen at the bottom o f
?! the wells at the village, breaks out again at the bog above the
1 village, and that the water finds its way from the bog to the
village through the crevices-of that ftratum.
After having obferved, as carefully ^s 1 could, the number
and fituation of the fulphnr wells about Harrogate, L took-
notice of the temperature of the four at the village. In the
month of June, 1780, when the thermometer in the fhade was
7 2°, and the pump water at the Granby-Inn, the well of which
is fifty feet deep, was 48°, the ftrongeft of the fulphur wells,
y being that of which invalids ufually drink, was 50°. On the
* 29th of July in this year, after the earth had been parched
with
)
 176 Bj^op of L andapf’s Obfervations on
with drought for many months, the heat of the ftrongeft welH
was 540 ; the water of the Granby pump was on the fame day?
48°, and the heat of the air in the fhade 76°. Do&or W alker ,?
who has lately written a treatife on Harrogate water, fays, that I-
the heat of this fpring was 48°, when that of an adjoining »'
rivulet was 530. And I have little doubt in believing, that if"
the experiment was made in cold weather, the temperature of ^
the fame well would be found to be feveral degrees below 48.^
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This variation of temperature in the fulphur water indicates'

its fpringing from no great depth below the furface of the >
earth ; or at lead it indicates its having run for a confiderable*
diftance in a channel fo near to the furface of the earth, as to *
participate of the changes of temperature, to which that is :
liable from the a&ion of the fun. But the heat of the fulphur
water is not only variable in the fame well, at different times , :
but it is not the fame in all the wells at the fame time. I f we
call the ftrongeft well the firft, and reckon the reft in order, -
going to the right, the third well, which is reckoned the n ext1
ftrongeft, was 570 hot when the firft well was 540. In fup-
port of the conjecture that the fulphur water Of the ftrongeft'
well would in a cold feafon make the thermometer fink below'
48°, which is the conftant temperature o f fprings fituated at a
great depth in the earth in this country, it may be obferyed,
that though the firft and the third well are never frozen* yet \
the fecond and the fourth well are frozen in fevere weather.
W hen the fecond and the fourth well are covered with ice,
it is probable, that the firft and the third have a temperature
far below 48°; but that the fea fait, which is more abundant
in them than in the other two wells, and which of alffalts
refills moft powerfully the congelation of the water in which
3 w it
 the Sulphur Wells at Harrogate. i
it is diffolved, preferves them from being frozen in the coldeft
feafons incident to our climate.
As the temperature of thefe four Wells is not the fame in
| an 0f them at the fame time, nor invariable in any of them,
fo neither does there feem to be any uniformity or conftancy
in them, with refpeft to the quantity o f fait which they con­
tain. T h e fait with which they are all impregnated is of the
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fame kind in all, and it is almoft wholly common fa it; and

1 though the quantity contained in a definite portion of any one
1 of the wells is not, I think, precifely the fame at all feafons of
I the year, yet the limits within which it varies are not, I ap­
prehend, very great. A method is mentioned in the L X th
volume of the Philofophical Tranfa&ions, of eftimating the
1 [quantity of common fait diffolved in water* by taking the fpe*
>, cif c gravity of the Water: this method is not to be relied on,
'« when any confiderable portion of any other kind of fait is dif-
i foived along with the fea fa it; but it is accurate enough to
* give a good notion of the quantity Contained in the different
f<Wells at Harrogate. On the 13th of Auguft, after feveral
fi days of rainy weather, I took the fpecific gravities of the four
f fulphur wells at the village, the drinking well being the firft.—
I Rain water 1.000; firft well 1.009 ; fecond well 1.002 ; third
i Weil 1.067; fourth well 1.002. By comparing thefe fpecific gra-
qvities with the table which is given in the L X th volume of the
r Tranfa&ions, it may be gathered, that the water of the firft well
$ contained of its weight of common f a it; that of the fecond
in and fourth* and that of the third, T’^. After four days
mmore heavy rain I tried the ftrongeft well again, and found its
ill fpecific gravity to be 1*008. It is worthy of obfervation, that
the water, as it fpritigs into the firft and third well, is quite
tranfparent, but ufually of a pearl colour in the fecond and
' * V ol * LX X V I. A a 4 * fourth*

|!
 Bijhop of L andaff*s on
fourth, fimiiar in appearance to the water o f the firft o r third
well after it has been expofed a few hours to the air; hence it
is probable, that the external air has aecefs to the water of the-
fecond and fourth well before k fprings up into the baton* A
great many authors have publifhed accounts of the quantity of
common' fait contained in a gallon of the water of the ftrongeft
well’; they ‘differ fomewhat from each other, forne making it
more, others lefs, than two ounces. Thefe diverfities proceed
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either fiom the different care and (kill ufed in conducting the
experiment; or from a real difference in the quantity of fait
with which the water is impregnated at different feafons of the
year. T he medium quantity of fait contained in* a gallon falls
ftiort of, I think, rather than exceeds two ounces. T h e fea
water at Scarborough contains about twice as much, fait as is.
found in the ftrongeft fulphur well at Harrogate. T he fulphur,
wells at the bog are commonly laid to be fulphureous, but no&
faline. This, however, is a miftake; they contain- fait, and
fait of the fame kind as the wells at the village. I could nod
diifuiguifh the kind of fait by the method in which; I had efti-
mated the quantity contained in the fulpbur w ells; I therefore
evaporated a. gallon of the water of the well in the bog which?
is near the rails, and obtained- a full ounce of common fait, o f
a brownifh colour: the colour would have gone off by calcir
nation. In what degree the medicinal powers o f Harrogate;
water depend on its fulphureous, and ki what degree on its;
faline impregnation, are queftions: which I meddle not with :;
1 would only juft obferve on th»iS' head, that any ftrong ful-
pliureous water, fuch as that of Keddleftone. in Derby flake, o r
of Shap in Weftmoreland, which naturally contains little o r
i\6 fea lalt, may be rendered fimilar to Harrogate- water, by?
thflblving in it a proper proportion of common fait. T he four;
. ’/ , fulpbur
 the Sulphur Wells at Harrogate. . *79
ftlpbur wells at Harrogate are very near to each o th e r; they
| might all be included within the circumference of a circle of
| &Ven or eight yards in diameter ; yet, from what has been fail
i it is evident, that they have not all either the fame tempera-
1 ture, or the fame quantity of faline im pregnation T his
I diverfity of quality, in wells which have a proximity of fitua-
ction, is no uncommon phenom enon; and though at the firft
4 view it feems to be furprifmg, yet it ceafes to be fo on reflexion ;
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for the waters which feed wells fo circumftanced, may flow

i through ftrata of different qualities fituated at different depths,
■though in the fame di reft ion; or through ft rata placed both at
lidifferent depths, and in different dire&ions; and that this is
tfvthe c^e at Harrogate is probable enough, there being hills on
s^everv ^de of the hollow in which the village is placed.
I W ith refped to the fulphureous impregnation of thefe wa-
eters, I made the following obfervations.
•T he infide of. the bafon, into which the water of the
1 ftrongeft well riles, is covered with a whitifli pellicle, which
t may be eafily fcraped off from the grit-ftone of which the
6 bafon i$ made. I obferved, in the year 1780, that this pellicle
i on a hot irou burned with the flame and fmell o f fulphur. I
I this year repeated the experiment w ith the fame fuccefs; the
fubftance (hould be gently dried before it is put on the iron.
I would further obferve, that the fulphur is but a fatal! part
of the fubftance which is fcraped ofh T h at I might be certain ■
1 of the poflibility.of obtaining true palpable fulphur from what
is fcraped off from the bafon, and at the fame time give fome
u guefs at the quantity o f fulphur contained in it, I took three
1 or four ounces of it, and having waftied it well, and dried it
thoroughly by a gentle heat, I put two ounces into a clean
glafs retort, and fublimed from it about two or three grains, o f
Aa a yellow
 18o Bijhop ofL a n d a ff ’s
yellow fulphur. This fulphur, which ftuck to the neck of I
the retort, had ail oily appearance; and the retort, when
opened, had not only the fmell of the volatile fulphureous
acid, which ufually accompanies the fublimation of fulphur,
but it had alfo the ftrong empyreumatic fmell which pecu-
liarly appertains to burnt oils; and it retained this fmell for•
feveral days. It has been remarked before, that the fait fepa-< -
rable from the fulphur water was of a browriifh colour; and -L
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others, who have analyfed this water, have met with a browner
fubftance, which they knew not what to make o f; b o th ®
which appearances may be attributed to the oil, the exiftence of if
which was rendered fo manifeft by the fublimation here m e n JJi
tinned. .1 will not trouble the Society w ith any conjectures|pi
concerning the origin of this oil, or the medium of its com-* j
bination w ith w ater; the difeovery o f it gave me fome pleafure^
as it feemed to add a degree of probability to what I had faid con-? 1
cerning* the nature of the air w ith which, in one of my C h e - f t
mical Eflays, I had fuppofed Harrogate water to be impreg-*
nated. I will again take the liberty o f repeating the query
which I there propofed. u Does this air, and the inflammable! o
air feparable from fome metallic fubftances, eonfift of L
particles in an elaftic ftate ? W hen I ventured to conjedlure,&i
in the Eflay alluded to, that fulphureous waters received their • ij
impregnation from air of a particular kind, I did not k n o w ®
that Profeflor Bergm an had advanced the fame opinion, and
denominated that ipecies of air,. Hepatic Air* I have fines,
then feen his works,, and very readily give up to him n ot o n ly -
the priority of the difeovery, but the merit of profecuting it*.
And though what he has laid concerning the manner o f preci--* ^
pitating fulphur from thefe waters can leave no doubt in the * L
mind of any chemift concernbg the aftual exiftence o f fulphur j
7 - ■ in, I
 the Sulphur Wells at Harrogate*. jufj*
in them ; yet I will proceed to the mention o f fome other-ob­
vious experiments on the Harrogate water, in fupport of the
feme do&rine*
Knowing that', in the baths of Aix-la*Ghapelle, fulphur is
found flicking to the Tides and top of the channel in w hich the
fulphureous water is conveyed, I examined with great atten­
tion the (ides of the little ftone building which is raifed over
the bafbn o f the ftrongeft well, and faw them in fome places
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of a yellowilh colour: this 1 thought proceeded from a fpecies

o f yellow mofsv commonly found on grit-flone: I collected,
(however,. what- 1 could of it by brufhing the fldes of the
■buildings at the diftauce of three or four feet from the water
: in the bafon :: on putting w h at I had brufhed off on a hot iron,i
ll-found that it confifted'principally of particles of grit-flone^
evidently however mixed with particles of fulphur..
I • Much of the fulphureous-water is ufed for baths at H arro-
Agate ; and for that purpofe all. the four wells are frequently
j. emptied into large tubs containing many gallons apiece; thefe
Iconftantly fland at the wells, and the calks, in which the
I water is-carried to the feveral. houfes, are filled'from them .
JO n examining the infides of tbefe tubs, I found them covered,,
as if painted, with a whitilh pellicle. r j feraped off a part o f
this pellicle : it was n o longer foluble in w ater; but, being put
on a hot iron, i t appeared to confift alrnoft wholly o f fulphur..
Some of thefe tubs have been in ufe many years,, and the ad­
hering cruft is thick in proportion,to the time, they have been?
applied to the purpofe ; but the fulphur pellicle wasfufficiently
iobfervable on one which was new in the beginning of this
feafon. T h e water when it is fir ft put into <thefe tubs is-tranf-
1 parent; when it has been expofed to the air for a few hours, it
becomes m ilky; and, where the quantity is large, a white
cloudi
 l£z Bijhop of L andaff’s Objervatms on
-•olbud may be feen {lowly precipitating itfeif to trie bottom*
This white precipitate confifts partly, 1 ana not certain that it
confifts wholly, of fulphur; and the fulphur is as really con*:
tained in 'th e waters denominated fulphureous, as iron is con-*
tained in certain forts o f chalybeate waters }Aix the one cafe
the iron is rendered foluble in water by its being united to
fixed air, or forne other volatile principle; and in the other
fulphur is rendered foluble in water by its being united to fixed
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air, or feme other volatile principle: neither iron nor fulphur

are of thenlfelves foluble in water, but each of them, being
reduced into the form of a fait fey an union with fome other
fubftances, becomes foluble in water, and remains diftblved
in it, till that other fubftance either efcapes into the air, or
becomes combined with feme other body.
About forty years ago, they took up the -bafon of the third
well, and a credible perfon, who was himfelf prefent at the
operation, informed me, that in all th e crevices o f the ftone
on which the bafon refted, there were layers o f pure yellow
fulphur. T his I can well believe, for I ordered a piece of {hale
to be broken off from th e bottom o f th e fourth w e ll; It was
iplit, as fhale generally is, into feveral thin pieces, and was
covered with a whitilh croft. Being laid on a hot iron, in a
darkroom , it cracked very much, and exhibited a blue flame
and fulphureous fmell. iihnoo > . ;
If the water happens to ftand a few days in any o f the
wells, without being difturbed, there is found at the bottom a,
black fediment •; this black fediment allot marks the courfe of:
die water which flows from the well, and it may be efteemed
charadteriftic of a fulphur water*. T h e furface of the water,
alfo, when it is; not ftirred for fome time, is covered with a
whitifh feum. Do&or Short had long ago-ofeferved, that,
. both
 the Sulphur ! V t t l f c Harrogate*
both the black fediment, and the white feum, gave clear indi*
cations, on a hot iron, o f their containing fu lp h u r: I know
not whence it has come that his accuracy has been queftioneef
I in this p o in t;: certain I am, *that on the repetition of his expe-
I riments I found them.'true* T h e w hite feum alfo, which is
found {ticking on the gfafs over which the: water flows, being
j gently dried,, burns w ith the flame and fmell of fulphur*
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From what has been laid i t : is clear, that fulphur is! found at
Harrogate,, flicking to: the bafon into which the water fprings ?
fublimed upon the ftones which comrpofe the edifice furround­
ing the w e lla d h e rin g to the (ides of the tubs in which th e
water ftands; fubfiding to the bottom o f the channel in w hich
the water runs ; - and covering the furface of the ea rth , and
of the blades of grafs,. over, which it flows. . .It is unneceflhry to
add another word on this fubje£t; it remains that I rifk a con­
jecture or two,, on the primary caufe of the fulphureous im­
pregnation obfervable in thefe waters.
p in the Chemical Eflay before referred toi I have (hewn**
that the air; feparable from, the lead; ore of Derby (hi re, or from
Black-Jack, by fqlution in the acid of vitriol, impregnates com­
mon water with: the: fulphureous fmell of Harrogate water s
ifiand I have alfo (hewn that the bladder fucus or fea-wrack, by'
Hi being calcined to a: certain point, and put into water,, not only-
gives the water ar braekiflu tafte, but communicates to *f, with*'
out injuring its tranfparency, the fraell, tafle, and other pro^-
« perties of Harrogate water.. Profeflbr B e rgman impregnated
■ water with a fulphureous tafte and Imell,. by means of airfepa-
pirated by the vitriolic acid from hepar fulphuris, made by fuflonu
Mofi equal weights of fulphur and pot-afhes, and from, a mafs.
made, of tliree parts of iron filings melted with two of ful­
phur ; and he found^allb* that. Black-Jack and native Siberian.
1 iron-
 iilty. 'Eijhop ofl^ktiTtkii'iObfervatm6ft
iron yielded hepatic air, by folution in acids. T h is, I believe, |
is the main of what is known by :chemifts on this fubjedt j jr
what I have to fuggeft, ‘relative to the 'Harrogate waters in $
^particular, may perhaps be of ufe to future inquirers.
I have been told, th a t on breaking into an old coal-work, in r
which a confiderahle quantity of wood had been left rotting p
for a long tim e, there iflued out a great quantity of water r
fmelling like Harrogate water, and leaving, as that water does, ,
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a white feum on the earth over which it palled. On opening

a well of common water, in which there was found a log of
rotten wood, an ofofervant phyfician allured me, that he had I
perceived a ftrong and diftindt fmell of Harrogate water* Dr*#,
D arwin , in his ingenious Account of an artificial Spring of
W ater, publifhed in the firft part o f the L X X V th volume of *
th e Philofophical Tranfadlions, mentions his having perceived I
a flight fulphureous fmell and tafte in the water of a well !
which had been funk in a black, loofe, moift earth, which ap^
peared to have been very lately a morafs, but which is now
covered with houfes huik upon piles. In the bog or moraft |
above-mentioned there is great plenty of fulphureous watery ft,
which feems to fpring from the earth of the rotten wood o f 1
which that bog confifts* Thefe fadb are not fufficient to make f
us certain, that rotten wood is efficacious in impregnating water
w ith a fulphureous fm ell; becaufe there are many bogs in
every part of the world, in which no fulphureous water ha£
ever been difeovered. N or, on the other hand, are they to be
rejedted as of no ufe in the inquiry # becaufe wood, at a par­
ticular period of its putrefadtron, or when fttuated at a particu­
lar depth, or when incumbent on a foil of a particular kind*
may give an impregnation to water, which the fame wood,
under different circumftances, would not give.
The
 the Sulphur Wells at Harrogate# 185
: T he bilge water, ufually found at the bottom o f {hips which
are foul, is faid to fmell like Harrogate w ater: I at firfl: fup-
cpofed, that it had acquired this fmell in confequence of be­
coming putrid in contad with the timber on which it refted,
and this circumftance I confidered as a notable.fupport to the
c conjedure I had formed of rotten wood being, under certain
i circumftances, inftrumental in generating the fmell of Harro-
jugate water. But this notion is not well founded; for the bilge
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m a te r is, I fuppofe, fait w ater; and Dr. S hort fays, that fea
v .water, which had been kept in a {tone bottle fix weeks “ {tunk
|n o t much fhort of Harrogate fulphur w ater.” It has been
,s remarked above, that calcined fea-wrack, which contains a
1 great deal of fea fait, exhales an odour fimilar in all refpeds to
d that of Harrogate w ater; and in confirmation of the truth of
d this remark, I find that an author, quoted by Dr. S hort, fays,
I that “ Bay fait thrice calcined, diffolved in water, gives ejcadly
the odour of the fulphur WelL at Harrogate.” From thefe
experiments confidered together, it may, perhaps, be inferred,
that common fait communicates a fulphureous fmell to water
both by putrefadion and calcination. Hence fome may think,
th at there is fome probability in the fuppofition, that either
calcined ftratum of common fait, or a putrefcent fait fpring,
jj may contribute to the produdion of the fulphureous fmell of
’,1 Harrogate w ater; efpecially as thefe waters are largely impreg-
. nated with common,fait. However, as neither the fait in fea
4 water, nor that of cakined fea-wrack, nor calcined bay fait,
>1 are any o f them abfolutely free from the admixture of bodies
0 containing the vitriolic acid, a doubt {bill remains, whether the
iti fulphureous exhalation, here fpoken of, can be generated from
0 fubftances in which the vitriolic acid does not exift.
1 N ouLK Xn. Bb The
 3$6 Btjhop of Landaff’s on
The (hale from which alum is made, when it is firffc dug out r
©f the earth, gives no impregnation to w ater; but by expofure |
to air and moiflure its principles are loofened, it fhivers into f j
pieces, and finally moulders into a kind of clay, which has an §
aluminous tafle. Alum is an earthy fait refulting from an i
union of the acid o f fulphur with pure clay ; and hence we
are lure, that fhale, when decompofed by the air, contains the |j
acid of fulphur; and from its oily black appearance, and efpe-
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cially from its being inflammable, we are equally certain that it >
contains phlogiflon, the other conflituent part of fu lp h u rw
And indeed pyritous fubftances, or combinations of fulphur Ij
and iron, enter into the compofition of many, probably o f all |
forts of fhale, though the particles of the pyrites may not be
large enough to be feen in fome of th em ; and if this be ad-,
mitted, then we need be at no lofs to account for the bits of fu l-. *
phur, which are fublimed to the top of the heaps o f ih a leJj;
when they calcine large quantities of it for the purpofe of®
making alu m : nor need we have any difficulty in adm itting^*
that a phlogiflic vapour muff be difcharged from fhale, wheflB,
it is decompofed by the air. D r. Short fays, that he burned |!l
a piece of aluminous fhale for half an hour in an open fo e »
he then powdered and infufed it in common water, and the ].
water fent forth a moft intolerable fulphureous fmelf, the veryfv
fame with Harrogate water. He burned feveral other pieces!
of fhale, but none of them flunk fo flrong as the firft. T his
difference, may be attributed, either to the different qua­
lities o f the different pieces of fhale which he tried, or
tp the calcination of the firfl being pufhed to a certain
definite degree; for the combination of the principles on
which the fmell depends may be produced by one degree
of heat, and deflroyed hy another. I have mentioned* „
briefly,
 the Sulphur Welhat Harrogate.
briefly, thefe properties of (hale, becaufe there is a ftratum of
(hale extended over all the country in the neighbourhood of
1 Harrogate ; feveral beds of it may be feen in the (tone quarry
| above the fulphur w ells; many of the brooks about Harrogate
I run upon (hale, and the fulphur wells fpring out of it. T hey
have bored to the depth of twenty yards into this (hale, in
i different places, in fearch o f coal, but have never penetrated
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ri through it. Its hardnefs is not the fame at all depths. Some
h o f it will ftrike fire, as a pyrites does, w ith Iteel; and other
3<beds of it are foft, as if in a ftate of decompofition, and the
I fulphur water is thought to rife out of that fliale which is in
I the fofteft ftate. But whatever impregnation (hale when cal-
Icined, or otherwife decompofed to a particular degree, may
'I give to the water which pafles over it, it muff not be concluded,
I that (hale in general gives water a fulphurequs impregnation ;
Ifin ce there are piany fprings, in various parts of England, arifing
out of (hale, in which no fuch impregnation i£ obferved.
I forgot to mention, in its proper place, that having vifited
the bog, fo often (poken of, after along feries o f very dry wea­
ther, I found its furface, where there was no grafs, quite can-
Idied over with a yellowifli cruft, of tolerable confiftency,
which had a ftrong aluminous tafte, and the fmell o f honey.
iBergman fpeaks of a tu rf found at Helfingberg in Scania,
confiding of the roots o f vegetables, which was often covered
with a pyritous cuticle, which, when elixated, yielded alum ;
and I make no doubt, that the Harrogate morafs is of the fame
kind.
W hether nature ufes any of the methods which I have men-
oj tioned of producing the air by which fulphureous waters are
r impregnated, may be much queftioned ; it is of ufe, however,
to record the experiments by which her productions may be
Bb 2 im itated;
 188 Bijhop of L andaf P’s &c.
im itated; for though the line of human undemanding w ill
never fathom the depths o f divine wifdom, difplayed in the
formation of this little globe which we in h ab it; yet the im4
pulfe o f attempting an inveftigation of the works o f God is
irrefiffible; and every ]5hy(ical truth which we difcover, every
little approach which we make towards a comprehenfion of thd
mode of his operation, gives to a mind of any piety the moft
pure and fublime fatisfa&ion.
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