1822.] Account of the Apothecaries' Garden, Chelsea. Latin Linnæan Names. Amomum Zingiber. Dracaena arborea. Erythrina Corallodendrum. Ficus Bengalensis. Hæmatoxylum Campechianum. Indigofera Tinctoria. Juniperus Virginiana. Liriodendron Tulipifera. Laurus Cinnamomum. Piper Nigrum. Pandanus Odoratissimus. Saccharum officinarum. Tamarindus Indicus. Candleberry Myrtle. West Indies. Ditto. South of Europe. Both Indies. India. Levant. Date Palm. Having thus endeavoured to give a brief sketch of the rise and progress of this important and beneficial Establishment, it only remains to perform the pleasing task of noticing its present state and condition. After the many struggles and difficulties it has had to surmount, it is truly gratifying to observe the proud eminence upon which the Botanical Garden is placed. This has been principally caused by the steady patronage and laudable exertions of the Society of Apothecaries; but it must at the same time be admitted, that great merit attaches to their present Gardener, Mr. William Anderson, by whose fostering care, Surinam. Both Indies. North America. Ditto. Cape of Good Hope. West Indies. China. Ditto. Both Indies. North America. Ditto. Ditto. 500 Account of the Wells, &c. at Tottenham. desirable to be known that in almost all situations water may be obtained by this method at the expence of a few pounds; whereas the expence of sinking a well to the main-spring too often deters the party from attempting it. Should you consider this communication sufficiently interesting, I hope you will give it publicity, that persons in all situations of life may have the opportunity of procuring one of the greatest luxuries in Nature, " good, pure, and wholesome water," in a short space of time, with little trouble, and at a trifling expence. - "Within the memory of several inhabitants of Tottenham High-Cross, Middlesex, it was almost an universal complaint that no good water was to be had in the village. The wells were at that time only a few feet deep, the supply of water was uncertain, and it was not pure enough for domes tic purposes. The fact is, that the wells reached only to the blue clay, and therefore their depth depended on that of the superstratum, namely, of the gravel or loam lying upon it. In the loam there are some salts, which, being taken up by the water during percolation, rendered it what is termed hard. "Within the last forty years, the complaint of the badness of the water at Tottenham has been effectually removed in most places in the parish, and might be in all. The clay, from the surface of which the water was formerly obtained, and to which it is nearly, if not absolutely impervious, has been pierced through in many parts, affording a never-failing supply of remarkably clear and brilliant water, which is particularly soft, and is consequently adapted to every domestic purpose. The depth of the wells varies from about 110 to 140 feet; and when the water was arrived at in sinking some of them, it rose with so great rapidity, as to overtake the well-digger several times before his escape was effected. So great and invariable is the supply of water, that it overflows a well in the premises of Mr. Wilkinson, near the High-Cross, with a stream which, during several years, appeared to be neither diminished by the drought of the driest summer, nor increased by the floods of the most rainy winter. "It is an extremely curious but well ascertained fact, that when a new well [June, is sunk, the depth of the water in those surrounding it is diminished for a short time; proving incontestibly, that there exists some communication amongst them. It is certain, that no such communication could exist, except at the bottom of these wells; and it is therefore evident that they all derive their supply from one common and immense reservoir. In some instances, however, the water has been found to diminish gradually and very considerably in depth; and wherever it has been found requisite to seek into the cause of this, it has always been found to be an accumulation of sand, which had been raised by the water, and deposited at the bottom of the well. "Hence it is reasonable to conclude, that all the wells are supplied from one common reservoir, and that the source of the water is in a stratum of sand lying beneath the blue clay, through which the wells are sunk. It becomes of considerable interest, whence could have been derived so immense a body of clay, what its nature is, and what also is the nature of the stratum of sand lying beneath it; and above all does it concern us, as regards the common purposes of life, to ascertain how so large a body of water should have found its way beneath a stratum of clay, which is impervious to water, and whence so constant a supply arises. These are questions of a geological nature. It is necessary to answer them briefly, but it will be requisite in so doing, to take a survey considerably beyond the boundary of the parish. A few miles on the West, or a little to the South of the West of Tottenham, we arrive at a country, the surface of which consists of sand. Hounslow Heath, and a large proportion of Windsor Forest, are of this nature, and so is the country until we arrive at Hungerford, in Berkshire; in the neighbourhood of which chalk hills make their appearance. Chalk is also found at Reading; at High Wycomb, in Bucks; near Rickmansworth; and Hertford, in Hertfordshire. Newmarket Heath, in Cambridgshire, is of chalk, which continues thence to the sea coast, near Cromer, in Norfolk. These places are all North-east of Hungerford, and are on a continuous range of chalk hills. If again we start from Hungerford, eastward, another range of chalk hills traverses the country by 1822.] Account of the Springs at Toltenham. by Guildford and Rochester, to Dover on the coast of Kent. "Now it is worthy of remark, that if we travel from the East of Hungerford to the East of Cromer, it is over a wide tract of sand; and if we travel from Hungerford to Margate, on the North of the chalk hills, we also travel on sand; and it is equally worthy of notice, that all the wells sunk through these sands prove that they rest upon the chalk; in other words, that the chalk of the ranges of hills, partially surrounding us, dips beneath the sand, lying every where on the surface not many miles from Tottenham, and every where for some miles surrounding Tottenham, beneath both the chalk and sand. "It is therefore reasonably concluded, that the range of hills from Hungerford to Cromer dips gently beneath the sand to the South-east, while the range from Hungerford to Dover dips gently towards the North; that the chalk of the two ranges is connected, passing beneath Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, and even beyond them, beneath the sea, bordering the coasts of the three latter counties; we are therefore to conceive the whole of this tract to be situated in a vast hollow in the chalk, which is geologically termed the chalk basin of London. "It is confidently believed by geologists, that the sands already mentioned pass together with the chalk beneath the surface, forming the very sand, from which rises the water supplying the wells at Tottenham. Upon the assumption of this being the fact, of which there exists the utmost probability, we shall be no longer at a loss to account for the origin of the great reservoir of water existing beneath the blue clay, through which the wells are sunk. The fact appears to be this -the water which falls on the sand, together with that which passeth into it from off the chalk, percolates the stratum of sand underlying the clay; hence, when an opening is made through the clay, the water rises nearly or quite to the surface, on the princíple of its seeking its level:-the level of the sand at the foot of the chalk hills, and of the clay at Tottenham, is nearly the same. "The sand lies in a hollow in the chalk, and the clay in a hollow in the sand. That both have been deposited by the sea, there is the most conclu 501 sive evidence:-sea shells are found in both. The clay lies in nearly horizontal layers, which is proved by the thin stratum of sand occasionally discovered in the sinking of the wells; and alsofrom its containing nodules of argillaceous limestone in regular strata. These nodules are termed septarii, from their being divided across by partitions, or veins of calcareous spar; and furnish the material of which Parker's cement is made. "Although some of the inhabitants* of Tottenham have obtained a good supply of excellent water from deep sunk wells to the main spring, there are a great proportion who are obliged to buy water of the carriers, who procure it from the well on Tottenham Green, which was dug, and a pump erected, at the expence of the late Thomas Smith, Esq. Lord of the Manor of Tottenham in 1791 t." Mr. Mathew, in the summer of last year, adopted the method of boring through the earth to the main-spring, at his farm in Broadlane, Page Green, Tottenham, when he obtained a copious and constant supply of water from a depth of 120 feet, which rises 8 feet above the surface, and flowing over, forms an elegant little cascade. It has neither increased nor diminished since the spring was tapped. Having succeeded on his own premises, he thought a similar experiment might be tried with equal success on the waste ground on the West side of the high road, opposite the gateway leading to the workhouse, and which would be of most essential benefit, not only to the inhabitants residing in that part of the parish, but to the public at large. This suggestion being made to the Vestry, it was acceded to on behalf of the parish, and the work commenced. It was completed under the direction of Mr. Mathew by John Goode. The ground was bored to the depth of 105 feet, when a fine spring of water issued forth, which rises six feet above the surface of the ground, through a tube within a cast iron pedestal, and flowing over the lip or edge of a vase, forms a bell-shaped William Rowe, Esq. and Mr. James Row, Page Green. The preceding account is gleaned from Mr. Robinson's "History and Antiquities of Tottenham." continual The quantity of water thrown up and discharged, is at the rate of 14 gallons a minute. The Fountain represented in the cut is copied from a drawing made by Mr. J. N. Walter, near the Turnpike at Kingsland, who has lately published a lithographic print, illustrative of the facility by which water may be raised by the method of boring, and the general purposes to which it may be applied, with explanatory tables which will be found of great use to persons desirous of obtaining a never-failing supply of good soft water, by boring or perforating the ground to the mainspring. The peculiar advantages of boring the ground for water, instead of digging, particularly at great depths, renders the former method of great importance to the publick, since water is obtained by boring at a small expence, as is exemplified by the fol lowing table. This table shews the prices of boring and of well-sinking respectively, at every 10 feet of depth, from 10 feet to 200 feet; viz. boring at 4d. per foot for the first 10 feet, 8d. per foot for 1822.] Remarks on the Repairs of Westminster Abbey. for the second 10 feet, and 4d. per foot additional and progressive for each following 10 feet; and of well-sinking at 2s. 6d. per foot for the first 10 feet, 3s. 6d. per foot for the second 10 feet, and 1s. per foot additional and progressive for each successive 10 feet. TABLE OF PRICES. Since the introduction of this cheap and simple method of obtaining a constant supply of water, many of the inhabitants of the parish have adopted it, whose example is followed by many in the adjoining parishes, and also in the county of Essex, with universal success. The ornamental purposes also to which it may be applied are innumerable, and present themselves to the man of taste in endless variety of forms, such as fountains, waterfalls, or basins for dressed grounds; for baths, or for ornament, as well as the uses of the garden and the conservatory; but the man of science will hereafter employ it as a principle of motion, and direct it to various mechanical opera tions. MR. URBAN, W. R. May 7. IN your last, p. 366, is a brief account of the improvements which have taken place in Westminster Abbey since the Coronation. I beg the insertion of the following lines, in which I hope I shall be able to shew that the whole of these renovations and repairs do not reflect the greatest credit on the superintendants of them! As far as regards the restoration of 503 the Monuments, I shall, perhaps, subject myself to some ridicule in censuring the operation altogether. It is well known that this ancient and majestic Church contains sepulchres and cenotaphs of all ages from the 13th century to the present one, differing in design as well as in the materials of which they are constructed: it will therefore almost necessarily follow that any attempt to render them uniform in their appearance, must be ridiculous. Do we expect to see "the tombs of some that died yesterday and some six hundred years ago" display as much freshness as if they were only just raised? It would have been sufficient for every purpose, if they had been carefully cleaned from the dust which covered them. The present attempt is like dressing a venerable old gentleman in the style of a Bond-street dandy. But to proceed with the consideration of the repairs themselves-the numerous modern monuments, good, bad, and indifferent, which incumber the Abbey, have had their surfaces washed clean, but to style this operation a restoration is a great abuse of the term. The inscriptions in many instances are wholly effaced, and in others partially so; the enquirer now pores over them, and receives as little information as from the guide who shows them. The preservation, however, of the modern monuments would have been but of little concern, if the ancient ones had been left untouched; they have, I am sorry to add, in many instances been most disgracefully mutilated. All those in the several small Chapels at the East end of the Church have been roughly washed with mops and water, to the great detriment of the ornamental parts, and have gained a dull yellow colour by the operation, which is no improvement to their appearance, whilst, on the contrary, the monuments in Henry the Seventh's and St. Edward's Chapels are untouched, and not even the dust brushed off. Of those which have suffered most severely, I am sorry to place first on the list the tomb of Geoffry Chaucer. This your Readers will recollect was formed of a red stone, and though not an elegant specimen of workmanship, was nevertheless a very neat altar tomb, venerable to the poet and the antiquary, on account of the man it commeinorated; yet not this consideration, nor the ap pearance |