University of Virginia Library

"CHAPTER[1]

"On the relative virtues of the Saline and
Gaseous contents of the White Sulphur
Water.

"Speculation has existed as to the relative
efficacy of the different component parts

of the White Sulphur Water in the cure of
disease, and while some have supposed that its
gaseous contents are essential to its sanative
virtues, others, and we think the best informed
observers, attribute its medicinal virtues
mainly to its solid or saline contents. To the
latter opinion the able Professor of Natural
Philosophy in the University of Virginia, who
has carefully examined the water, and other
distinguished chemists and physicians, decidedly
incline.

"It certainly is a question of no little interest
to the valetudinarian, whether he should
use this water fresh as it flows from the spring,
and abounding in all its stimulating gas; or
whether he should use it after it has partially
or entirely parted with this gas. To this subject
we have, for the last several years, devoted
the most laborious and particular attention,
having instituted, with great care, various
and diversified experiments, in order to
establish something like definite and positive
conclusions.

"Although the value of this water in what
is usually termed its non-stimulating form,
or, in other words, when deprived of its gas,

has long been known to many who are familiar
with its use, it was not until the last few
years that it was commonly used from choice,
after it had been long removed from the
spring, or from any cause had parted with its
gaseous contents; an opinion, the correctness
of which had never been examined, prevailed
in the minds of many, that in losing its gas,
it lost its strength and efficacy.

"Having settled at the `White,' as the resident
physician of the place, it became alike
our duty and our interest to investigate the
character and operations of its waters under
every possible form and modification in which
they could be presented. In the pursuit of
this duty, we resolved to take no opinion upon
`trust,' but carefully to examine and investigate
for ourselves. A prominent question immediately
presented itself for inquiry, involving
the relative merits which the solid and
gaseous ingredients of the water possess as
remedial agents. It would be tedious, and, to
many, uninteresting, to detail the several steps
and multiplied experiments which led us to
conclusions upon the subject, satisfactory to
our own mind, and upon which we have established

certain practical principles in the use
of the water, which have enabled us to prescribe
it, especially for nervous and excitable
patients, with far greater success than heretofore.
It is sufficient for our purpose at present,
to state, that while we freely admit that the
sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which abounds
in the water, is an active nervine stimulant,
and therefore may be a most potent agent in
some cases, we are fully impressed with the
belief that either in its direct or indirect
effects, we must look mainly to the solid contents
of the water for its alterative power as
well as for its activity manifested in its operations
through the different emunctories of the
human body.

"Whether the efficacy of the solid contents
of this water be owing to the specific character
of any one, or to all of the thirteen different
salts of which it is composed, and which
exist in the water in the most minute form of
subdivision, and in this condition enter the
circulation, and course through the whole system,
applying themselves appropriately to diseased
tissues; or, whether its efficacy depends
upon the evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen

gas after the water has reached the stomach,
is a matter of curious and interesting inquiry.

"The distinguished chemist, Mr. Augustine
A. Hays, of Rocksbury, after having bestowed
much pains in analysing the white sulphur
water, and in studying its peculiar character,
comes to the following conclusions as to the
source of its medicinal power. After describing,
at considerable length, a certain matter
which he found to abound in the water, and
which he terms `organic matter,' in the
course of which he says, it `differs essentially
from the organic matter of some thermal waters,'
he proceeds to say, `In contact with
earthy sulphates, at a moderate temperature,
it produces hydro-sulphuric acid, and to this
source, that acid contained in the water may
be traced. This substance does not rapidly
attract oxygen from the atmosphere, and from
coloured compounds, as some other organic
compounds do,—the medicinal properties of
this water are probably due to the action of
this organic substance. The hydro-sulphuric
acid resulting from its natural action, is
one of the most active substances within the

reach of physicians. There are chemical
reasons for supposing that, after the water
has reached the stomach, similar changes,
accompanied by the production of hydro-sulphuric
acid, takes place.'

"Before Mr. Hays had communicated the
above opinion, growing out of his chemical
examinations, we had again and again been
much interested with certain phenomena
which we have termed the secondary formation
of gas in the white sulphur water. Instances
had frequently been reported to us of
the water having been put into bottles after it
had lost its gas entirely, being void both of
taste and smell, and yet, after these bottles
were kept for some days in a warm situation,
and then opened, the water appeared equally
strong of the hydro-sulphuric acid, as it is
found to be fresh at the fountain.

"In a shipment of this water to Calcutta,
some years since, the `transporting company'
had the water bottled in Boston, from barrels
that had been filled at the spring six months
before. This water, although tasteless and
inodorous, when put into the bottles at Boston,
was found, on its arrival at Calcutta, so

strongly impregnated with the hydro-sulphuric
acid gas as to render it necessary, under
the direction of an intelligent gentleman of
Boston, (who had witnessed this secondary
formation of gas before,) to uncork the bottles
for some time before using, that the excess of
gas might escape."

We have given Dr. M. thus far "chapter"
and verse, and as, hitherto, he has been obliged
to give himself away, he should be obliged
to us for setting a price upon him. A most
estimable acquaintance of Dr. M. and ourself
—a genuine laughing philosopher—some
years ago, wrote a book to prove that there
was no such personage as the Devil; and he
did prove it, entirely to his own satisfaction;
but unfortunately for his ingenious disquisition,
the learned divines would not countenance
his "theory," and have continued, to
the present day, declaiming against the old
gentleman's horns and cloven foot. We fear
it will be so, with Dr. M. and ourself: he will
continue to recommend "stale water," and
we shall continue to prefer fresh: he will continue
to urge that—"This water, although
tasteless and inodorous, when put into the

bottles at Boston, was found, on its arrival at
Calcutta, so strongly impregnated with the
hydro-sulphuric acid gas, as to render it necessary,
under the direction of an intelligent
gentleman of Boston, (who had witnessed this
secondary formation of gas before,) to uncork
the bottles for some time before using, that the
excess of gas might escape." (Good reader,
refrain from laughing, if you can.) And we,
poor ignorant boor! shall continue to believe,
that the water was putrid, and . . . . .!

Our transmontane Galen gives a quotation
from a learned chemist, and after making him
father deductions which must have made
that gentleman smile, he says: "Whether
the efficacy of the solid contents of this water
be owing to the specific character of any
one, or to all of the thirteen different salts
of which it is composed, &c., or, whether
its efficacy depends upon the evolution of sulphuretted
hydrogen gas after the water has
reached the stomach, is a matter of curious
and interesting inquiry." Mark this, good
reader! The gas as it comes from the fountain
is a "nervine stimulant;" but, as
"evolved in the stomach," it may be the

sweetest gas imaginable. May fate protect us
from Dr. Moorman's stomachic gas!

"We had also known that in the process of
thawing sulphur water in a warm room, that
had been previously frozen, sulphuretted hydrogen
gas is evolved; for although the ice
has neither the taste nor smell of sulphur, a
strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen gas is
manifest as the ice is returning to water.

"We had often observed that individuals
who drank the water entirely stale, and void
alike of taste and smell, were as liable to have
eructations of sulphuretted hydrogen gas as
those who drank the water fresh at the fountain.
These, and other facts connected with
the peculiar operations and effects of this water
when used in its ungaseous form,—operations
and effects which we cannot here with
propriety refer to, but all going to prove the
secondary formation of gas under certain circumstances,—had,
in our investigations of this
water, interested us exceedingly, and consequently,
we were not a little pleased that Mr.
Hays' chemical examinations so fully sustained
the opinions we had been led to entertain
from our personal observations."

The Dr. says: "We had often observed
that individuals who drank the water stale,
were as liable to have eructations of sulphuretted
hydrogen gas, as those who drank the
water fresh at the fountain." We know not
what effect the Doctor's observation may have
upon the reader, but we declare our sides fairly
ache from laughing at the discovery, that
stale water makes the Dr. and his patients
belch. Thanks to our stars that we are not
near enough to appreciate "the operations
and effects all going to prove the secondary
formation of gas under certain circumstances."

The Doctor proceeds: hear him!

"The interesting opinion of this distinguished
chemist, in connection with the numerous
proofs, derived from analogy and observation,
of the secondary formation of sulphuretted
hydrogen gas in this water, would
seem to be well calculated to harmonize the
opinion advanced by us of the equal efficacy
of the water when deprived of its gas, with
the sentiment entertained by some, that the
hydrogen gas is essential to its sanative operations.

"The phenomena of a secondary for-

mation of sulphuretted hydrogen gas in
mineral waters, has not, that we are aware
of, been noticed before; it certainly has
not in relation to the white sulphur
water, and we sincerely hope that medical
gentlemen generally, who may have occasion
to use the water, will direct a careful attention
to this singular fact. For ourselves, we promise
still further to investigate this interesting
subject, and may, at some subsequent period,
lay the results of such investigation before the
medical public."

We have thus far quoted from the "Preliminary
Chapter" of our learned contemporary,
which he informs us is part of "a work in
manuscript, on the Mineral Springs of Virginia,
which has been lying by us (him) for some
time, nearly ready for the press."

The Doctor's bantling has not yet been made
public, though nearly ready for the press three
years ago: we hope it has not gone upon a
voyage to Calcutta, or, if it has, that it has
been given in charge to that same "intelligent
gentleman from Boston" who was so considerate
as to save the poor Hindostanese from the
"secondary formation of gas;" for we are sure

that after three years, it must be a little stale,
and, judging by the first chapter, tending to
the "odour of rotten eggs." A writer in the
Literary Messenger of May last, whose article
on the qualities of the Warm Springs we
have inserted in a previous chapter, has asserted
that "some persons faint at the fragrance
of the damask rose."

Blessed fainting this; "a little of thy civet,
good Apothecary," for we and our readers have
had so much of Dr. Moorman's "nervine
stimulant and gas evolved in the stomach,"
there is danger our olfactories will become so
stimulated as to make us sneeze to death.

But we think we have given enough of the
"Chapter" even to satisfy Dr. M. What say
you, Dr.? If not, we will do you more ample
justice in our third edition. Now to the
Doctor's facts.

"In this work, the author has arraigned us
before the public in a manner so unjust, and
at the same time so virulent, that however reluctant
we may be to enter the arena of controversy,
we feel that he has left us no alternative.

In the defence, however, of our character
as a man, and of our views as a physician,
we shall endeavour to curb those angry feelings
which malignant aspersions are so well calculated
to arouse; content to inflict no wound
more severe than will follow the recoil of a
futile effort to effect a sinister and selfish end.

"That the public may be enabled more readily
to appreciate the merits of the issue between
Mr. Burke and ourselves, we deem it
better at once to lay before them a few prominent
facts—which facts, we believe, will not
only afford a key to the controversy, but shed
much light upon the motives by which Mr.
Burke has been actuated in dragging us before
the public, at the expense alike of justice
and the common courtesies of life.

"In the first place, he and ourselves are entire
strangers to each other, and have had no
intercourse which could possibly have engendered
the slightest degree of personal hostility.
In the second place, Mr. Burke is the Proprietor
of the Red Sulphur Springs, the water
of which, he contends, is not only destitute of
stimulating properties, but even sedative in its
effects; a peculiarity, whether real or imaginary,

upon which rests solely, or in an eminent
degree, its medicinal reputation. Thirdly; it
is generally admitted that the white sulphur
water, in its natural state, and as recently
taken from the spring, is decidedly stimulant;
and further, that its stimulating effects depend
upon the sulphuretted hydrogen gas contained
therein. Fourthly; it is well known that the
sulphuretted hydrogen gas, or stimulating constituent
of the recent white sulphur water, escapes
upon suffering that water to stand for
some hours in an open vessel, or is driven off
by heating it. And fifthly; it follows, from
what has been said relative to the stimulating
effects of the gas, its escape, &c., that if the
medicinal properties of this water reside mainly
in its saline ingredients, by suffering its gas
to escape, the water may be so modified as to
adapt it to those cases wherein a stimulant is
contra-indicated, and in which the aperient
and alterative effects of the water would prove
essentially beneficial.

"If, in connection with what has been said
above, the reader will take into consideration
the further fact that, in times past, many valetudinarians
were in the habit of leaving the

White Sulpur Springs because of its stimulating
property—and for that reason alone—to
seek relief at the `Red,' he will have, we believe,
a clew by which he may readily be conducted
to the source whence Mr. Burke's assault,
upon what he is pleased to term our
theory, has emanated. Suppose, for a moment,
that `our theory' be correct, and that
indisputable facts can be adduced, sufficient,
in number and character, to show that the
water in its modified form, and divested of its
stimulative property, retains not only its aperient
but its alterative agency, and thus becomes
adapted to those cases wherein, but for
its stimulating character, it would, in its natural
state, have been indicated,—what then becomes
of the patronage which the `Red'
once received from cases of this class? Can
any one suppose that, under such circumstances,
a preference would be given to the
Red Sulphur? The idea, to one acquainted
with the relative alterative value of the respective
springs, is preposterous; and those not
familiar with the subject may readily infer,
from the extreme sensitiveness of the `Proprietor
of the Red,' that he regards the grounds
of alarm as by no means trivial.

"After having carefully examined the work
of Mr. Burke, and maturely reflected upon its
general character, we are forced to the conclusion
that the attack which he has made upon
ourselves should be regarded in no other light
than as incidental to the general scheme—as
a mere tributary towards the accomplishment
of the end for which his book was written.
What was that end? To elevate in public
estimation the medicinal virtues of the Red
Sulphur Springs. Our humble self and our
`theory' stood in his way, and must be removed.
The obstacle thus opposed may have
been trivial, yet its suppression was deemed
necessary. How was it to be accomplished?
To charge our `theory' with injuring his
Spring would not answer,—his motives might
then have been suspected; he assumes a virtue
not his own; he hearkens to the dictates
of `duty,' and impelled by the irresistible
spirit of philanthropy, steps forward to the rescue.
Over the deluded victims of our `theory'
he stretches the broad ægis of his protection,
dispels the darkness that envelopes them, and

rejoices in the hope that they will yet quaff
the waters of his health-giving fountain."

Any one who reads the paragraphs just
quoted can see that the object of Dr. M. is to
invalidate our attack upon his "theory" by
representing us as the "Proprietor of the Red
Sulphur Springs," and thereby convicting us
of unworthy and selfish motives. There is
one important ingredient deficient in the Doctor's
statement, and that is truth. When we
wrote the little work of which he complains,
we had no more interest in the Red Sulphur
than he had, or than we have at this moment.
The facts were these: In the spring
of 1841 we surrendered possession of the property
by a deed or contract recorded in the
County Court of Monroe, and in the autum
of that year removed to Richmond. In February,
1842, we divested ourselves of every
residuary interest in the estate, and the work
impugned by Dr. M. was written and published
between that time and July, 1842. So it
will be seen that the charge of selfishness and
base motives falls to the ground, and with it
all the fabric raised by Dr. M. on this sandy
foundation. The truth is, that, having on

our hands many hours of solitude, in the absence
of our family, and believing that we
might do good by directing public attention
to hygienic agents of great importance in our
estimation, we determined to devote our leisure
to a treatise on the subject. We have never
derived one dollar's profit from it, having given
our manuscript to the publishers; and as to
literary reputation, the theme was one too
unpromising, even had we the vanity to aspire
to that distinction. But there is a gratification
beyond all other considerations, which has
made our heart throb with pleasurable emotions,
and that is, that many an invalid has
expressed to us deep gratitude for the publication
of our little manual. To have put in the
right way one unfortunate sufferer would be
payment enough for all our trouble; but, we
thank God, the acknowledged benefits have
exceeded our most sanguine expectations; if
the drinkers of Dr. Moorman's stale water
have proved as grateful as our readers, we
shall be pleased to hear it; but we fear he
gets more curses than blessings. But he says
our sole object in attacking his theory, was,
lest the White Sulphur water, by being deprived
of its stimulating properties, should rival
the Red Sulphur in the sedative effects claimed
for it, and thereby jeopard our interest.
The absurdity of this allegation is manifest
even to a half-idiot; for even Dr. M., obtuse as
he seems to be in such matters, must see that
the large portion of saline ingredients in the
White Sulphur must, primarily, act altogether
as a stimulus to the peristaltic motion of
the intestines and to the intestinal surfaces,
and to the circulation, whilst the claim set up
for the Red Sulphur rests upon an opposite
composition. Those waters therefore never
have been, and never can be rivals.

It is true enough that Dr. M. has duped
some unfortunate invalids by advising the use
of an agent which, however valuable when
properly applied, is, when misapplied, exceedingly
deleterious, and it is equally true he may
do so again; but for that he will have to answer
at a bar where no special pleading will
avail him. As to our interest, whatever misunderstanding
may have existed on that head,
even he will not say that we have any interest
now. Surely we cannot be suspected of any
peculiar interest for the present proprietors;

yet, we re-assert all we have said in praise of
that remarkable water; and no circumstances
that have arisen can ever cause us to withhold
our real sentiments respecting an agent which
we consider important to a portion of our fellow-beings.

We shall make no further quotations from
Dr. M. His facts are without foundation in
truth; his arguments puerile and shallow; his
theories untenable; his absurdities ridiculous;
his motives palpable and culpable; and his efforts
to bolster up a selfish practice, a gross imposition.

Now who would have thought that a grave
physician could have relied on the fact, that
his putrid water, at Calcutta, emitted a noxious
gas, to prove that this water had been divested
of its nervine stimulus, when the truth
probably was, that any poor wight, who might
be so imprudent as to hold his nose in contact
with it, would encounter a knock-down argument?
He urges, too, that this stale water,
as he aptly calls it, is better than fresh water:
"Credat Judæus Apella, non ego."—Swine
may believe him, men cannot. An Englishman
prefers stale bread to fresh, but we opine

John Bull would turn up his nose at stale water,
even though capable of "evolving gas
in the stomach." By the way, we always
thought it was a grand object with the physician
to prevent the "evolution of gas in the
stomach;" but it seems Dr. M. has an especial
penchant for this secondary formation,
and perhaps, having experienced the comfort
of it in his own abdominal apartments, desires
that his patients should enjoy a similar blessing.
In conclusion we offer the following
Bagatelle as our reply to the remainder of Dr.
M.'s pamphlet.