Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Hydropathy, Medical Treatment, Charlatanry

    Notes the rising interest in London's water prompted by Theobald Mathew's mission and Dr Granville's work on German spa towns. A boy operating the pump for the 'Mineral Springs' at 'St. Chad's Wells' claimed that the water from the pump was 'good for everything' but the reporter argues that 'as nothing is usually the matter with those who drink it, it is equally good for nothing'. A 'treatise' on the springs boasts that they 'approach nearer to that universal remedy, so much sought after by mankind in all ages'. One of the illustrations shows bottles of St Chad's water dancing about.