A full and distinct account of the mineral waters of Pyrmont, and Spa ... / Collected from the best authors, and improved by Dr. Turner.
- Turner, George, M.D.
- Date:
- 1734
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A full and distinct account of the mineral waters of Pyrmont, and Spa ... / Collected from the best authors, and improved by Dr. Turner. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![[ I2<5 ] You will further objeSt that this acid fpirit of air to which I attribute fo many vertues is but Imaginary, and that before it be allowed to aft fo generally, and efficacioufly, I make it plainly ap¬ pear. That is eafy for me, having only to inftance the example of polifh’d iron that rufts in the air, that of old lime, which being expofed a long time in the air, impregnates a volatile acid, and becomes falt-petre ; in a word, that of the afhes of wood and burnt earth, which containing .only an alcalous fix’d fait, cannot ferve to vegetation, nor form this double fait in the plants they pro¬ duce without the help of this astherial acid. It Is by this artifice that the inhabitants of Spa (with¬ out knowing the reafonj lay fnares for this father of vegetation, and oblige him to reft upon the furface of the earth, without which it would pro¬ duce little or nothing for their nutriment, I fhall neverthelefs obferve, that notwithftanding all their labour, they can only get it to yield rye and oats, and fome fpelt; and if they eat bread made of wheat, they muft have it from elfewhere. There is another thing curious enough in rela¬ tion to this foil, which is, that earth which is burnt produces only two years, whereas that which is remanured with lime continues oy or 30, bearing indifferently all forts of grain, which depends, in my opinion, upon the pores oi the lime, which being of a fubftance more folid than the fixed fait of the afhes of wood or turf, are not fo eafily deftroyed, fo are confequently in a condition to ferve a longer time for this kind of magnetifm. After this digrefifion, I return to the waters, to endeavour by the fame principles to difcover the nature of each of them in particular, and where” in they differ one from another. It](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30778827_0134.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
