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Preface

 

There is an old saying, that "a good tale cannot be too often told." And so I think now. The theme of the efficacy of the Harrogate Waters can never be exhausted, any more than the running of its healing streams. The springs will continue anon to well up, and their babbling brooks flow on to the sea.

I make, therefore, no apology for adding one more work upon the subject of their natural virtues. For

One doctor only, like the sculler, tries,
The patient struggles and at last he dies;
But two physicians, like a pair of oars,
Will land hint gently on the Stygian shores.

I have had the waters from six of the Wells mostly in use (out of the many) subjected to a fresh analysis by chemists of the highest reputation at Charing Cross Hospital. I have applied the treatment by these waters to certain diseases, as indicated by examination of the blood and other methods, and I have put to the test all the latest appliances in balneo-therapeutics, as used at Harrogate. I have endeavoured to bring the whole "up to date," and to make thus work a standard upon the subject - for the time being - on all points fair, without being over­drawn.

It is not intended to make this a general guide book; at the same time, it may be well for the Medical Profession to know that Harrogate, in addition to its mineral waters, has many natural charms in itself and in its immediate neighbourhood.

It is true that it cannot boast of the antiquity of Bath, with its Roman remains and baths; nor, like Royat and Dax, and half-a-dozen other Continental Spas, claim that Julius Cesar was cured of his gout by drinking its waters and frequenting its baths ; but it is nevertheless true that the healing properties of the waters of Harrogate were known and appreciated for many generations.

On the general treatment of ailments for which sufferers come to Harrogate, I have brought to bear the latest researches of examination of the blood, so as to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. And as a sequence and a consequence, I have been able to direct certain lines of treatment to suit individual cases with marked success, and this is all the more satisfactory, because they are based on scientific, physiological, and pathological principles. This will all be explained in the chapters which are to follow.

In writing this work on the Sulphur and other Mineral Waters of Harrogate, I will avoid verbosity, and describe them and the ailments they are likely to cure or ameliorate as tersely as possible. I have no intention to go into a lengthened comparison of Continental and other Mineral Waters, although I may touch upon them in a cursory way.

In placing Harrogate before the Profession in its medical bearings, I will describe it geographically; meteorologically; and, further, its drainage; mortality; seats of education; its geological features and mineral waters; and their value in their chemical, therapeutical, and clinical aspects.

In dealing with the Harrogate Mineral Waters and their efficacy in the treatment of disease, there are certain things which cannot as yet be explained.

Medicine, unfortunately, is not, like mathematics, a fixed and certain science: constitutions differ, and so does the effect of certain drugs upon individuals; for although the composition of all mineral waters may be well known, the mode of properly assimilating their component parts can only be clone in Nature's laboratory.

We have, in tie waters of many of our Wells, simple prescriptions, physiologically correct as to their application to certain diseases, but whose constituents are so blended together as to baffle the most skilful chemist to imitate successfully.


 
 
 

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