Note on Gypsum crystals found lining a disused well at chemical works

Extract

Before the value of hydrochloric acid forcblorine manufacture was recognized by soda-crystal makers, it was a common practice to get rid of the unpleasant fumes in the cheapest and most convenient way possible. At Messrs. Chance's works at Oldbury, near Birmingham, this was done by turning the gases from the salt-cake furnaces into a culvert which ran through some portion of the works. The better to condense the fumes, it seems probable that a brook, which runs near the works, was diverted into the culvert, thus forming a rough condenser. Some thirty years or so sgo, when alterations were being made at these works, a culvert of this description was unearthed and found to be lined with crystals of gypsum, which had formed on the brickwork. An old well, which was opened, was also studded with beautiful tufts of crystals. I am indebted to Mr. A. M. Chance for a handsome specimen with numerous attached crystals of gypsum, and also for some stereoscopic slides showing the well with the crystals in situ.