THIS Paper being chiefly designed for the meanest Readers , I shall deliver my self in as few , and plain words , as the subject Matter will allow , hoping by several more Experiments made , and observed of this Mineral Water , hereafter by others , as well as my self , that Learned and Inquisitive Persons , ( or any others that dislike this Propter Authorem ) may receive a more large and suitable Satisfaction in deeper Notions , from some other more Learn'd and Philosophical Pen : And in the mean time , these plain Directions have been desir'd by some , and perhaps may be acceptable , and useful to most sorts of Persons , that flock to this Spaw ; therefore not regarding the Cenfures of the Momy's , observing Method , the better to be understood , I shall ,

First tell you from what Minerals , ( as learned Physicians , and other Philophical Men do affirm ) this Water doth receive its Medicinal Virtues . Secondly , I shall endeavour to answer an Objection thrown abroad against it . Thirdly , I shall tell you its Virtues , and in what Distempers it hath done , and in all probability it may do good . Fourthly , You shall have the best Method and Manner how to drink it , without any Prejudice to your Bodies .

First , The Minerals ( upon Trials and Experiments ) which are very strong in this Water , are Sulphur Flowers , and Iron Other , which unite into an imperfect Vitriol in the Water , that is ( more plainly ) chiefly Steel , some Sulphur , and a little Copper intermixt ; which two last gives the Vomiting and Purging quality , this Water is so excellently endued with , and from the Iron and Steel it works so strongly by Urine . Now , to illustrate this ( for the satisfaction of the Inquisitive and Learned ) not only have I tried , and often found it ( and many others ) to turn with a few Grains of Gills into a deep Purple colour at the Well , and at my own House ; but also it turned so at Litchfield after their Carriage , and Keeping many days ; some Bottles being sent to the Learned Sir John Floyer , Knt. and Doctor of Physick , who caused others , besides himself , to drink of it there ; and by standing sometime in a Glass , a bleuish Skin appears on the top of the Water , and hence saith Sir John ( in his Letters to me ) we may conclude , that this Water hath the same Minerals , as the common Chalybeate Waters have .

But m●reover there is this singular in this Water , from all others that are Chalybeate , that by Spirit of Harts-Horn dropt into it ( at Litchfield , and many other places ) it precipitated green Clouds and Sediment , ( very pleasant to the Beholders ) and not of an yellow Other colour , as other Chalybeate Waters do , neither will it turn green with Syrup of Violets , as other Chalybeate Waters use to do , but gives a green Tincture to old rusty Iron put into it ; by which Experiments , and also by its Purging Faculty , it is believed that something of Copper is contained in the Pyrites , or Fire-stone , which furnish the Water , with its strong Chalybeate taste , from the Sulphur and Iron Ocher all Pyrites contain . Upon these Experiments 't is adjudged to be stronger than the Waters of Quarne , Bromish , Poles worth , or Astrop ; nay , some Learned Men at the Well have affirmed it stronger than Tunbridge , and may be compared with Scarborough Spaw , which purges as this doth , and therefore must needs have greater Success , than most other Steel Waters in England .

Secondly , The Objection is , 't is a Coal pit-water , dreining dry thro' a Slough or Gutter , some Coal-pits , as well as the Iron Stone pits , on Meer Heath , therefore unwholsome .

Answ. The same Objection is made against the Waters of Polsworth and Bromich , which are near Coal-pits also , and yet experience has proved them , ( as saith Sir John in a late Letter to me ) both to be useful and innocent : It is the Pyrites , or Fire-Stone , ( found in Beds , in getting of Coal or Iron-stone , thro' which the Water runs ) gives the Chalybeate Tincture to the Water ; for if a little Pyrites be put into a Glass of fair Water , in a few Minutes ( as often as it hath been tried ) it gives a Steel taste to the Water , and by adding Galls to the same Glass , it turns of a deep Purple in a small time . Moreover , Chalybeat Springs lie shallow , and are often spoiled by digging into , and therefore come not from the Coal which lie deep , and the Fire-stone which gives the Chalybeat Virtue ) lies very much above the Coal , as Miners inform us ; furthermore , neither Iron-stone nor Coal can be dissolved in Water ; the last being a Sulphurous Oily Bitumen , cannot mix with Water no more than Oyl can ; and being no Sulphurous stinking smell is found in Water , it is plainly evident it hath no ill quality from the Coals : Beside there is no such noxious quality in Coal ( as the Objectors imagine ) as appears by warming Drink with a red hot Coal , as many Country-men use to do , and others light their Tobacco with it , without prejudice , and easily tast the Sulphurous Acid in it , and believe its good for the Lungs ; and this sure is sufficient to satifie any Timerous ( if Rational ) Person .

Thirdly , I design not to erect a Creature of my own , by extolling the Virtues of this Water , so as to be accounted the Author of their Fame ; but seeing it is a stronger Steel-water , I shall , for the Benefit of our Country , set down a Catalogue of some Distempers , for which you may expect Remedy by the use of it .

It is a very clear Water , and that is a peculiar Advantage to it ; It hath to my knowledge cured the Green-Sickness in several Virgins , brought away Worms from Children , Gravel and Stones from many Men , and helped Pissing of Blood , bravely helped a Gentlewoman of great Quality of an ill Habit of Body , with Hysterical Maladies : Another good Gentlewoman ( under my care ) of a hot splenetical Habit of Body , and Hectical in the first degree ; greatly efficatious in the Scurvy , as Mr. Atherly , Mr. Barber , and others can testifie ; it procured to all that drank it regularly , a good Appetite , and amended the Colour in Womens Faces , &c.

By this it appears to be a great Opener of Obstructions , the causes of most Diseases . It purges the Bowels by siege , the Mesentery , Liver , Reins , &c. by Urine , carrying off , destroying and sweetening any Corrosive , Soure , and Scorbutick Salts in the Blood , thereby cleansing and purifying the same : With some it purged so much , as if it would leave nothing to pass by Urine ; and yet passed so plentifully by Urine , as if it found no vent by Stool , scarce ever failing of purging ( except in exceeding constipated Bodies , and in such as drank but two or three Pints for Pleasure or Company ) turning the Excrements of all into a sad Green , or Blackish colour , as all Steel-waters and Medicines do : It Vomits also , as I observed in many , besides my self , who often drank it for trials sake .

To be positive in its Virtues till more Experimental Histories have given the Country satisfaction , were to extenuate the reality of the Premisses ; but from its Mineral Principles , it justly may be recommended to be used in the hot Scurvies , Jaundice , Incipient Dropsies . Hectical and Hysterical cases , the White Flux , and Bleedings at the Nose ; in Diseases of the Breast or Lungs , that need or can admit Purgation ; in Vomitings , decayed Appetites , and Indigestion ; in Diseases of the Head , as Convulsive cases , Falling-Sickness , &c. and in Nervous Cases , as Tremblings , Palsies , old Rheumatisms , Palpitation of the Heart , Flatus , Hypochondriack Melancholy , and Cholicks arising from a hot cause : In old Gonorrhea's and Claps ill cur'd , Vlcers of the Kidnies or Bladder , Diabetes , Strangury , Sharpness of Water : Outwardly it must needs be good in all Vlcers , Sore Eyes , Scorbutick running Sores , Wild-fires , Ring worms , Kings-Evil , Scabs , Itch , Cankers , and in Scorbutick Sores of the Mouth and Gumms .

Fourthly , Tho' those that are in perfect Health , ( that come for pleasure ) may drink it without any hurt to their Bodies , yet it may harm such as are sickly , if not used aright ; and it 's impossible to direct so , as to answer every Man 's particular case : But a preparation of the Body , by purging , may be necessary , and safe in most Maladies , to make way for the Water : And bleeding some few days before ( or after ) drinking , especially in Plethorical Bodies , or hot Maladies , may be very profitable ; for by it , Obstructions will sooner yield to the Water : And purging once in ten or fourteen days ( as I did some Patients the last Summer ) may be proper in some cases , as may the taking some Alteratives , and appropriated Medicines , relating to the part Affected , or to the Nature or Complication of the Sickness . Therefore , understanding Persons that have distemper'd Bodies , do usually at Spaws , consult some Physician , whether the Water be proper or not for their Condition , &c. whereas in others , less discreet , and unadvisedly drinking of it , it may not do that good ( but perhaps harm ) as by a regular Method .

Begin at six or seven a Clock in the Morning with two half pint Glasses ( walking two or three Minutes betwixt them ) then walk gently a quarter of an Hour , or something more , then take two more Glasses , and your Walk as before , so repeat your Glasses the first Morning with your Walks , till you have taken eight or nine Glasses at most , and so walk or ride gently , till the Water is passed off , which may be in two or three hours time , after the last Glass , that is by twelve or one of the Clock .

The days following increase your quantity , by one or two Glasses each Morning , till you come to 12 , 14 , or 16 Glasses ( which will be six , seven , or eight pints ) as you are advised too , or as it passes off , and you can bear it : And after you are come up to the just number of Glasses you intend , you may hold to that number every Morning a week , or more days , if your case require it , or you may decrease , daily abating one Glass , till you come to the number you begun with , or rather under , and so leave off ; taking a Purge after it , as may be proper in some , tho' not in all Cases and Bodies .

Remember not to walk too fast thither , nor drink too fast , nor walk too fast home again after it , so as to heat or sweat ; for thereby the Water is forc'd into the Habit of the Body , and hinders its working off thro' the Bowels ; and this is one great cause of such Itchings , Pimples , and Breakings-forth , as many the last Summers complained off .

If the Stomach chill at them , and grow nauseous , a bit of a Stomachical Lozenge , Candid-Orange , Lemmon-Peel , Mint-Cake , or a few Carraway Comfits may be chew'd now and then , but the less the better : And if any have such weak Stomachs they cannot fast till Dinner , at twelve or one of the Clock , a Mess of warm Broth or Gruel will be exceeding proper for them at ten or eleven . Shun Salt and Fry'd Meat , Sallets , Cheese , exercise gently after Dinner ; sleep not , nor drink hard , but remember Temperance in all things .

As to the time of the year to drink , 't is usually from mid-May , till the end of August ; the hotter , and drier the Season is the better . A fortnights time to drink them regularly may be the shortest , some Bodies and Distempers may require three Weeks , others a Month or more ; Mr. Barber drank it six Weeks compleat in the two last Summers .

This Water , as many can testifie , has been carried six , ten , and many more Miles in Bottles , kept three or four days , drank , and work'd off very well , and so fetch'd fresh every third or fourth day for three weeks together ; enquire of John Licet , of Hopton , who drank it older than ever I yet heard of with great Success ; but purius ex ipso fonte bibuntur Aquae : 'T is most efficatious no doubt when drank at the Well .

To conclude ( Brevity having been my aim ) I hope if any meet with help by the use of this Water , they will be so gratefully Ingenious to it , as to confess it to me , or some other Physician or Friend , so that the Virtues of it may be grounded on Matter of Fact and Observations : And if the poorer sort of People that come to this Spaw , where ( Deo volente ) I often shall be , require my Advice , I shall be ready to give it them Gratis , as I am bound in Conscience to do , and that as carefully , as to any other of our Country , to whom I am