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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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