90 THE ANALYST.

F L I T W I C K W A T E R .

BY WILLIAM JOHNSTONE.

(Read at the Heetirtg, April, 1887.) THIS smgular ferruginous water wells up through a bed of irony looking pectt and decayed vegetable matter, being in a valley cut down, through the Lower areensands, to the underlying Oxford clay.

The locality is known as Flitwick Moor, and at one time served to supply the inhabi- tants of the district with fuel. The Flitwick Station of the Midland Railway is within a mile of the springs, and about forty miles from London.

The Flit, a tributary of the Ivel, runs in the valley, taking its rise some distance westward, near the junction of the Greensands with the overhanging Gault Clay. At Flitwick the valley opens out, and there is a considerable spread of flat land, rich in

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THE ANALYST. 91

alluvial deposits. These succeed each other at different levels above the present bed of the stream -marking the different heights a t which, in past times, the river flowed-a river, probably, but feebly represented by the Flit. The peat occupies a middle place, between the highest terraces of gravel and the modern alluvium, a narrow strip of clay fringing both sides of the water.

Several attempts have been made to drain this valley, but have been abandoned, owing to insufficiency of fall, so that, at the present time, much of the place remains in its original wild state. Morass and heathery waste revel together in uncultivated luxuriousness-happy hunting ground for rare and curious water-loving plants and insects. The surrounding country is mostly sand ; for the most part irony, loose, and incoherent, but sometimes rocky. There is much poor ironstone, as concretionary lumps and nodules*-the whole mass being deeply stained with iron peroxide, which has produced a varied assemblage of coloured sands, according to the different stages of oxidation. The floor of the valley supporting the sands being Oxford clay, and imper- meable to water, I should conclude that the phenomenon of the springs is the joint production of the rainfall percolating the sands being stopped by the clay, and that percolating the porous irony peat being likewise stopped by the clay. There is no reason to suppose the water must rise from any depth below, fissures, or the like.

A peculiarity that may be noticed is that the irony water coming to the surface, and running in open channels, deposits its iron; so that a tufaceous looking deposit of bog iron ore is being formed around-whereas, where the water preserved for use runs into covered troughs, the iron is held in suspension. An enormous quantity of available Flitwick mineral water may thus be seen meandering to waste amongst the woods and bogs that mark the place.

ANALYSIS OF THE WATER COLLECTED IN BEGINNINCJ OF MAY, 1885.

Parts per 1,OOO. 01144 -0640 -0511

1.2212 *0044 *0075 -0014 *0024 -0311 00340

1.7328 *2328

1.2753

4.7624 --

Grains per Imp. Gallon. 8.008 4.480 3-577

85.484 0.308 0.525 0.098 0.168 1.477 2.380

12 1.296 16.296 89.271

333.368

* See (;red. Magasim, dug. 1886, p. 381.

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92 THE ANALYST.

SEVEF~AL CONSTITUENTS IN COIBINATION.

R2s0*- NaCl Iron Apocrenic Iron Crmic SiO, Organic Matter

Parts per 1,OOO. 029040 *15525 -1 5340

1.92138 *01470 901508 000299 -00527 *05520

1-39000 -26840 023280 *25730

Grains per Imp. Gallon. 20.3280 10.86 75 10.7380

1344966 1 *0290 1-0556 0.2093 0.3890 3.8640

97.3000 18.7880 16.2960 18.0110

4.76217 333.351 9 Total by Direct Estima-

tion at 140? C. .. 4.8000 336.000 Specifh Gravity a t 15-5O C. 1.0041.

One peculiarity of this water is its freedom from alumina, seeing that it contains such a large quantity of iron, and that in this instance wholly as ferric salt, containing, as you will observe, 1.92 grm. of ferric sulphate per 1,000, and 1.65 grm. of organic iron salt. The water, however, is not quite constant in composition, varying, to some extent, with the rainfall containing a t times ferrous as well as ferric ealts; that, how- ever, I believe, is due to the more rapid extraction of the iron salts from the peat by excessive heavy rain, and, therefore, not allowing time for complete oxidation."

As to its medicinal properties, I leave those to my medical friends, merely drawing your attention to the following analysis of the water, the origin of which has been reputed to two individuals (see ANALYST, Vol. X., p. 29, and British Medical Jozcrwl, 3rd Jan., 1880). Whoever is responsible for the analysis in question is sadly deficient in his knowledge of even the elementary rudiments of chemical combination. Just fancy, Mr. President, a water containing 144 grains of oxide and carbonate of iron, &B repre- aented in the following analysis; they are practically insoluble.

Grains per Gallon. Oxide and Carbonate of Iron . . .. .. .. . . 144.00 Sulphate of Magnesia and Soda . . .. .. .. 59-20 Carbonate of Lime . . .. .. .. .. .. 11-54 Muriate of Magnesia (Chloride) . . .. .. .. 15.16 Silica . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3.40 Carbonate of Magnesia .. .. .. .. .. 5-42

Ulmic, Malic, and other Acids, constituents of Vegetable Matter . . .. .. .. .. .. .. 13.32

9, Soda .. .. .. .. .. .. 0.22

Total .. .. .. .. . . 252.26

* A sample collected on 22nd March last year contained an abundance of both ferric and ferrous salts, and also gave 473.90 grains of solid residue per imperial gallon.

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THE AXALPST. 93 ~ ~~ ~~~

I must admit that I was not personally aware of the existence of ma& acid in

In conclusion I have to thank my friend, Mr. A. C. G. Cameron, of H.M. peat, or decomposed vegetable matter such as peat.

Cleologicrtl Survey, for the interesting description of the locality of the spring. Conch&on of the Society’s Proceedinyg.

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