MINERAL WATERS AND MEDICINAL SPRINGS OF ESSEX. 247
price one penny per glass, in the pump-room. It is, indeed, the
only Essex spa which now exists. Mr. H. Warren has been
the proprietor for many years.
The author of a local guide-book, published in 1871,
says148 that—
" The Spa Water, when fresh drawn, is bright and sparkling. It is by no
means unpleasant to the palate, producing no sort of constitutional disturbance—
no flatulence, nausea, or dejection of spirits—but rather improves the appetite
and strengthens the stomach. Its immediate effects on the system are tonic and
stomachic. More remotely, . . . it promotes the assimilating powers of
the digestive apparatus and gently excites a peristaltic action, softens and
moistens the skin, corrects the secretions, and purifies the blood."
A Mr. Lever, a London chemist, who had analysed the
water some time before this, reported149 that he found six pints of
it to contain the following ingredients :—
Oxide of iron .. .. .. .. .. 3 grains
Carbonate & sulph. of lime .. .. .. .. 0 ,,
Carb. & sulph. of magnesia .. .. .. .. 3 ,,
Chloride of sodium .. .. .. .. .. 1 ,,
[this shows, he says] a similarity to the waters of Tunbridge, with, however,
a considerable preponderance of the most essential ingredient, the oxide of iron
—a fact not to be wondered at when the quantity of iron pyrites found in the
cliff is considered.
In June 1897, Mr. Warren submitted a sample of the water
to Dr. J. C. Thresh, the Medical Officer of Health for Essex,
who reported as follows :—"I find the sample of water sent
is a gravel water containing a trace of iron. There is no con-
stituent, save the iron, which could be considered to confer upon
it any medicinal properties. On the other hand, there are no
objectionable constituents and organically it is very pure.
" The sample you sent contained under one grain of iron salts
per gallon ; whereas the published analyses have four grains. The
iron is deposited upon standing and probably is so deposited in
the reservoir. If you could ensure it always containing the full
amount, the water would be a useful tonic, for bracing up the
system after illness, or when a person has' run down.' For such
people, a stay at the sea-side and a course of chalybeate
water is exactly what is required."
Mr. Dalton takes, however, a different view as to the origin
of this water. He writes that it comes from "the foot of
148 Visitor's Guide to Harwich, 4th ed., p. 35 (1871).
149 Op. cit., p. 34.