Editing William Withering (section)

==Chemistry and geology==
[[File:W Withering at Caldas da Rainha.jpg|thumb|right|Withering analysing thermal waters at [[Caldas da Rainha]] ]] 
Withering was an enthusiastic chemist and geologist.  He conducted a series of experiments on ''Terra Ponderosa'', a heavy ore from [[Cumberland]], England.  He deduced that it contained a hitherto undescribed element which he was unable to characterise.  It was later shown to be [[barium carbonate]] and in 1789 the German geologist [[Abraham Gottlob Werner]] named the mineral ''[[Witherite]]'' in his honour.<ref name=Lee2>[http://www.jameslindlibrary.org/trial_records/17th_18th_Century/withering/withering_biog.pdf "William Withering (1741-1799): a biographical sketch of a Birmingham Lunatic." M R Lee, ''James Lind Library'', accessed 25 September 2006]</ref>  The [[Matthew Boulton]] mineral collection of [[Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery]] may contain one of the earliest known specimens of witherite. A label in Boulton's handwriting records; "No. 2 Terra Ponderosa Aerata, given me by Dr. Withering"<ref name=Russ>{{cite journal|last1=Starkey|first1=R. E.|title=Matthew Boulton, his mineral collection and the Lunar Men|journal=The Newsletter of the Russell Society|date=2011|volume=59|pages=1–8}}</ref>

Withering also undertook analyses of the mineral content of a number of spa waters in England and abroad, notably at the medicinal spa at [[Caldas da Rainha]] in Portugal.  This latter undertaking occurred during the winter of 1793–4, and he was subsequently elected to the Fellowship of the [[Lisbon Academy of Sciences|Royal Academy of Sciences of Portugal]].