class="c10">powder of Galls with this water, knowing by experience if this
Minerall had any acquaintance with the Spring, the powder would
discolour the water and turne it to a Claret die; wherein they were
not deceived, for presently (to their both wonder and joy) the
water changed colour, and seemed to blush in behalf of the Country,
who had amongst them so great a jewell and made no reckoning of
it.... You may suppose (being met together at our Inne, where we
found ourselves very well accomodated for our provision) we could
finde no other talke but of this our new Spa.... Three days after
our return to York, Dr. Deane (whose thirst for knowledge is not
superficially to be satisfied) by the consent of his
fellow-physitians sent for a great quantity of the water in large
violl glasses, entending partly by evaporation and partly by some
other chimical means to experiment it...."

It would certainly appear from a perusal of the above, that at the latter end of the year 1625, Deane knew little of the medicinal value of the English Spaw. But such a conclusion is entirely opposed to the dedication and text of "Spadacrene Anglica," which clearly indicates that Deane was a close personal friend of the eminent physicians Dr. Timothy Bright, and Dr. Anthony Hunton of Newark-upon-Trent, who for years had been recommending the waters to their friends and patients. Moreover Deane himself had paid many visits to the English Spaw with the physicians of York, and had been at last induced to commit his knowledge to print. Is it permissible to use imaginative license and see in Deane a humorist who persuaded Stanhope "of taking the aire" while professing no intimate knowledge of the spring, yet going the length of taking the powder of Galls in his pocket to produce a stage effect, which he had never found to fail?[10]

Stanhope readily adopts the plover origin of the name Tuewhit, but the silence of Deane is suggestive of his doubt, and especially so as he mentions the pigeons haunting the sulphur springs as "an arguement of much salt in them." There is no obvious reason of this kind for the plovers frequenting the Tuewhit Well in preference to any other spring in the neighbourhood.

In 1630, Deane published a number of Tracts which had been left more or less incomplete by Samuel Norton. His share in the authorship of the different tracts varies. The titles of one or two will sufficiently indicate the nature of the subjects, and it can be seen that his studies included the philosophical stone, and other subjects receiving attention at the present time, such as "culture pearls."

"Mercurius Redivivus, seu modus conficiendi Lapidem Philosophicum."

"Saturnus Saturatus Dissolutus et Coelo restitutus, seu modus componendi Lapidem Philosophicum ... e plumbo...."

"Metamorphosis Lapidem ignobilium in gemmas quasdam pretiosas, seu modus transformandi perlas parvas ... in magnas et nobilis ..." etc. etc.

Edmund Deane married twice, first to Anne, widow of Marmaduke Haddersley of Hull; the date is not known, though it was before the entry of pedigree was recorded in 1612. In 1625, he had a license at York to marry Mary Bowes of Normanton at Normanton. There does not appear to have been a family by either of his wives.

He died in 1640, and was buried in St. Crux Church, York. This church was demolished about the year 1885, as it was considered structurally unsafe, but there does not appear to have been any memorial erected to him in the church. The manuscript Registers of the Parish of St. Crux are in the College of Arms: the manuscript extracts do not commence until the year 1678. His Will, however, is preserved. It is dated 30th of Oct. 1639, and was proved at York on the 14th of April, 1640.

In a biography it should be the task of the writer to visualise the personality of his subject as well as to record merely the material events of his life. In this instance it would be quite impossible to do so from lack of material, but yet from his works, and from the opinion held of him by Michael Stanhope, and last, but not least, from the contents of his own Will, I think some picture can be painted of him. A man of learning is shown from his writings: a perusal of "Spadacrene Anglica" will exhibit both the clearness of his intellect and the forcibleness of his style. For many years he successfully practised medicine at York. He was held in high esteem among his professional brethren, and was recognized by them as a leader in the profession with a broad mind, ready to listen to and investigate new ideas. His personality is fully and finely revealed in his Will, and as this is the only biography, as it were, written by himself, I append an extract from it, so that he may speak for himself.