1800] On American Springs. 7g

after the flame was extinguiſhed; but it has not been in my power to give teſtimony on a fa which is of creditable notoriety.

Of alum ſprings, there is one ſaid to be very remarkable in thé neighbourhood of Falmouth upon Rappahaunock, which is ſaid to einit lumps of púrl alum; but I am unable to’ give à particular deſcription of it; and have only thought it proper to mention ir, as an index for men of ſcience, who may bave leiſure and inclina- tion to examine the premiſes, and improve the ſubjeŒÆ.

The medicinal ſprings are numerous in the ſouthern fates; in the northern T am not informed. i

The moſt northern one in Virginia is at a place called Batb, near the banks of Potomack, not far from Wincheſter. This was much attended to by the late Lord Fairfax, who made confſi- derable improvements there, and rendered it the retreat of the bathing ſeaſon for many perſons of reſpe&@ability and faſhion.

There are ſprings allo in the county of Louiſa, termed the. Green ſprings, which are of late years much reſorted to by Vale= tudinarians; and I am perſuaded, that the mineral ſprings at Rich mond in Virginia, would be found fully as efMcacious, if they did but poſſeſs thecharms of being more remote fróm the capital, and ſomewhat harder to come at,

When you paſs farther to- the ſouthward, nature has been equally provident in reſpe& to convaleſcent accommodation; and here alſo the habits of the northern country have been copied, in rendering theſe places the reſort of pleaſure, as well as the retreats of infirmity. In many parts of the ſtate of North Carolina, mine- ral waters abound in a greater or leſs degree; but the ſprings in Caſwell county, and thoſe in Lincoln(generally called the Char- lotte ſprings) are the moſt frequented; theſe latter, more parti- cularly, by the gay gentry of ſouth Carolina,

In the Tenneſlee country, fill farther weſt than theſe, there aré warm ſprings, the property of Waightſtill Avery, Eſq. upon French Broad river; and although theſe are above three hundred miles from the ſea, the diſtri& bears no compariſon with their re- putation z;- which will probably obtain them a conſequence in 2 ſhort time, not unworthy of Engliſh invalids. i

But above all which I have mentioned, the Virginia ſprings, about the head waters of James river, are the moſt fancied:

Theſe have been repeatedly viſited acroſs the Atlantic ocean; and men eminent for their ſcientific talents have chóſen a reſidence in their neighbourhood. They are at preſent to be ranked as the interior Brighthelmſtone of America; and perhaps, all circum- ftances conſidered, may have made as rapid frides towards its faſhionable diſſipations as prudence would diſpenſe with.

With reſpe& to the peculiar virtues of theſe waters, Door Rouelle, a French Phyfician, has analyzed them; and I believe