ANALYSIS 
 
 Mineral Waters of Saratoga and 
 Ballston, 
 
 WITH 
 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON THEIR MEDICAL PROPERTIES; 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 A History of the Discovery and Settlement of these 
 celebrated Watering Places*) 
 
 AND OBSERVATION'S ON THE 
 
 GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY, 
 
 BY JOHN H. STEEL, M. D. 
 
 " The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth, and he 
 that ia wise will not abhor them." BIBLE. 
 
 ieronU Etiftfon. 
 
 SARATOGA SPRINGS : 
 
 riUXTED AND PUBLISHED BT C. M. DAVISOV. 
 
 1838.
 
 Entered according to act of congress, in the year 1S38, by 
 G. M. DAVISON, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of 
 the Northern District of New-York.
 
 TO THE 
 
 - YORK 
 
 HISTORICAL SOCIETY; 
 
 Formed for tlic express purpose of elicit- 
 in? and preserving whatever may relate 
 to the Physical History of the state, this 
 Analysis of some of the most distinguished 
 and celebrated mineral Waters which our 
 country any where affords, is respectfully 
 inscribed, 
 
 By the 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 
 Saratoga Springs, July 1, 1831.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 IN presenting to the public a new work on the mineral 
 waters of Saratoga, some explanation may be deemed ne- 
 cessary. 
 
 These waters had been considerably resorted to, and 
 had become quite celebrated for their medicinal qualities, 
 particularly about the country, long before any thing more 
 was known of their properties than what was gathered 
 from the effects which they produced, when taken into 
 the stomach. 
 
 Dr. Seaman, of the city of New- York, who visited the 
 place as early as 1793, undertook, while on the spot, some 
 chemical experiments on the water, in order to determine 
 its real character; and to him the public are indebted for 
 the first scientific effort ever made to elucidate its true 
 properties. His publication contained much useful infor- 
 mation on the subject, but his experiments were limited to 
 only one of the fountains, and his deductions were not al- 
 ways conclusive. Several other scientific notices of the 
 waters were subsequently published by able chemists, but 
 they were not more successful in producing satisfactory 
 results; and, although they went far to corrobrate the 
 opinions and views of the Doctor, they afforded no addi- 
 tional information to that which he had previously acquir- 
 ed ; so that the discreet physician, when called upon to
 
 Vi PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 direct the use of the waters, was frequently at a loss, and 
 for the want of proper information, unable to decide, in 
 many cases, as to the proriety or impropriety of prescrib- 
 ing their use. 
 
 In the summer of 1817, 1 first published some observa- 
 tions on the mineral waters of Saratoga and Ballston, At 
 that time, I had resided at the Springs something over ten 
 years, and having been, during that period, often consulted 
 in relation to the qualities and uses of the waters in vari- 
 ous diseases, I felt compelled to engage in a course of in- 
 quiries, which would lead to a better and more satisfactory 
 understanding of the general character and comparative 
 properties of the different fountains ; and if the little work, 
 which resulted from the undertaking at that time, was not 
 sufficiently minute and discriminating in its details to satisfy 
 ihe profound chemist, it was thought, at least, to contain 
 all that was important for the instruction of the physician, 
 or the benefit of his invalid patient. 
 
 Since that period, several analyses of the most celebrated 
 fountains have at different times appeared, under the sanc- 
 tion of names calculated to inspire the fullest confidence in 
 their correctness ; but the glaring discrepancies manifested 
 in the results have tended greatly to lessen that confi- 
 dence, and to involve the subject in uncertainty and doubt. 
 
 It therefore became necessary that a more careful and 
 accurate investigation of the properties of these waters 
 should be made, in a way and manner calculated toestab-
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. Vli 
 
 lish their real character and, if possible, to settle the public 
 mind on the subject. 
 
 Having spent more than twenty years of my profession- 
 al life on the spot, and having been compelled to devote 
 almost the whole of my attention, particularly during the 
 drinking season, to the operation and effects of the waters, 
 in the various and complicated diseases which have, at 
 different times, presented themselves at the Springs, I was 
 impelled, by a sense of duty which I owed to the public, as 
 well as to the very respectable individuals who have here- 
 tofore honored me with their attentions, to make the sub- 
 ject an object of my particular and minute investigation ; 
 and for several years past, the examination has employed 
 the whole of my leisure hours. 
 
 Availing myself of all the sources of information which 
 the present state of science on this subject afforded, I com- 
 menced the arduous undertaking, with a determination 
 that no labor, at least, should deter me from arriving at as 
 great a degree of accuracy as the subject would permit ; 
 and the result of a patient and laborious investigation is 
 now presented to the public, under an impression that the 
 accuracy of the conclusions will not be controverted by 
 those who have the means, and will take the trouble to ex- 
 amine for themselves. 
 
 By comparing the present analysis of the waters of the 
 several springs with that which I formerly published, a 
 considerable difference in tlie results will be readily discov- 
 ered. This, however, must not be imputed to any alter-
 
 viii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 ation or change in the original properties of the waters, 
 but is accounted for, in a great measure, by the different 
 state or condition in which the various saline ingredients 
 afforded by the water were, by the different processes, ob- 
 tained. In my former analysis the whole of the saline re- 
 siduum was estimated while in a state of crystallization ; in 
 the present instance, the quantities are calculated in a per- 
 fectly dry state. There are other differences of a less im- 
 portant character, which unquestionably arise from errors 
 committed in the former analysis, which, I am now happy 
 in the opportunity to acknowledge, as well as to correct. 
 
 Under an impression that every thing relating to the 
 early history and settlement of the springs is becoming 
 every day more and more interesting, as the place advan- 
 ces in importance, I have endeavored to give as full and 
 perfect an account of it as I have been able to collect. 
 For this, lam greatly indebted to a number of individuals; 
 particularly to John K. Beekman, Esq. of New- York, who 
 kindly furnished me with severable valuable documents, 
 in relation to the early history of the celebrated patent 
 of Kayaderosseras. 
 
 I am likewise under particular obligations to Dr. Samu- 
 el Freeman, of Ballston Spa, for the particulars in relation 
 to the history of that place, as well as for many useful prac- 
 tical observations on the medical properties of the waters. 
 Dr. Freeman has resided on the spot for a number ofyears, 
 and his knowledge and experience entitle his opinions to 
 the fullest confidence and respect.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 The author of the present volume, the late Doct. STEEL, 
 had commenced revising it for a second edition in the sum- 
 mer of 1837 ; but a continued illness, with which he had 
 been alllicted for some months previous, prevented a com- 
 pletion. In the autumn of that year he had journeyed to 
 the south and east, under an impression that a change of 
 climate and a relaxation from business would prove benefi- 
 cial. But after an absence of some weeks he returned, and 
 was soon thereafter confined to his house until his decease, 
 which took place on the 23d of April, 1838, at the age of 
 5G years. A few weeks previous to this event, he placed 
 the few additions which he had been enabled to make to 
 the former edition of this work in the hands of the pub- 
 lisher, with a request that they might be properly arran- 
 ged, and such verbal corrections made as might be found 
 necessary. This lias been faithfully complied with ; and 
 though it was the design of Doct. S. had he lived, to have 
 taken a Avider range on many subjects connected with the 
 history of the Springs and the analysis of the mineral wa- 
 ters, it is believed that the present work (the only one of 
 the kind extant) will be found to be highly instructive as
 
 X PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 well as beneficial to persons desirous of availing themselves 
 of the use of these waters for medicinal purposes. 
 
 The great experience of Doct. S. connected with his 
 scientific attainments and a long residence at the Springs, 
 gave him an opportunity possessed by no other person of 
 being thoroughly acquainted with the properties and effects 
 of these fountains, and of being eminently fitted to give di- 
 rections for their use. To him more than to any one else are 
 the public indebted for bringing them so effectually into no- 
 tice; he spared no expense or labour, during his residence 
 of twenty-five years in this place, in becoming familiar 
 with their properties and with the various diseases for 
 which they had proved remedial ; and there are thousands 
 now enjoying the blessings of health, who might have been 
 laboring under protracted illness, or have become the ten- 
 ants of the grave, but for his prescriptions and the use of 
 these waters. The written admonitions and directions of 
 such a man are therefore invaluable, and will commend 
 this work to the confidence of the puhlic. 
 
 THE PUBLISHER. 
 
 Saratoga Springs, July, 1838.
 
 PAGE. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS,. 13 
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS ON THE COUNTY OF SARATOGA,.... 49 
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE WATERS, 75 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE SPRI.VGS, 79 
 
 CONGRESS SPRING, id 
 
 Preliminary Observations, 84 
 
 Experiments with tests, 86 
 
 Inferences, 91 
 
 Examination of the gaseous contents of the water, 94 
 
 Examination of the solid contents of the water, 100 
 
 Recapitulation, 113 
 
 Medical History, 118 
 
 Columbian Spring, 123 
 
 Washington Spring, 131 
 
 Hamilton Spring, 134 
 
 Flat Rock Spring, 1 39 
 
 High Rock Spring, 142 
 
 President Spring, 149 
 
 Red Spring, 150 
 
 Ten Springs, 151 
 
 Ellis' Spring, 153 
 
 Cluakcr Springs, 156 
 
 BALLSTON SPA, 157 
 
 Sans Souci Spring, 169 
 
 Low's Spring, 172 
 
 Park Spring, 173 
 
 Public Well, 1 74 
 
 New Washington Spring, 176 
 
 ATERS, , , 178
 
 xii CONTENTS. 
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE MEDICAL PROPERTIES 
 
 OF THE WATERS, 133 
 
 Bilious Complaints, 185 
 
 Dyspepsia, 186 
 
 Calculous and Nephritic complaints, 192 
 
 Chronic Rheumatism, 193 
 
 Anthritis, or Gout, id 
 
 Phagedenic, or ill-conditioned Ulcers, 194 
 
 Cutaneous Eruptions, id 
 
 Scrofula, 195 
 
 Dropsy, 199 
 
 Paralysis, id 
 
 Chlorosis, 200 
 
 Phthisis, id 
 
 Season suitable for drinking the waters, 201 
 
 Closing remarks, . , , 202
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 SARATOGA is, in all probability, a corruption of 
 the Indian word, Sah-rah-ka, which is said to 
 mean " the side-hill,'' and was applied by the na- 
 tives more particularly to that part of the coun- 
 try which lies between the Lake and the Hudson, 
 where the application of the terra is amply justified 
 in the appearance of the country. 
 
 The whole country which seems to have inher- 
 ited the name is of much greater extent. It cm- 
 braces a tiact of country which, commencing at 
 the mouth of the Mohawk river, stretches to the 
 north alone; the windings of the west bank of the 
 Ilud.-on for more than seventy miles, to the coun- 
 ty of Warren; * hence in a westerly direction to 
 the east bounds of the county of Hamilton, about 
 fifteen mil'-s ; from this spot the line proceeds in a 
 southerly direction alonjj the whol; extent of the 
 eafst line of the county of Montgomery, about 
 ri
 
 14 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 thirty miles, to the north line of the county of 
 Schenectady ; thence along the line of Schenec- 
 tady to the Mohawk river, which separates it 
 from the county of Albany, and then along the 
 course of the Mohawk to the place of beginning, 
 about twenty-five miles. 
 
 These lines include an area of about eight hun- 
 dred square miles, and a population at this time 
 of about forty thousand souls. 
 
 The greater part of the lands included in this 
 tract were originally granted by the crown of 
 England to a company of thirteen proprietors, 
 under the title of the Patent of Kayadcrosseras. 
 
 The Van Sehaick's Patent, so termed from the 
 name of the person to whom it was granted, was 
 of an earlier date, and included the present town 
 of Waterford and a considerable tract of country 
 adjoining. The Saratoga Patent was next in or- 
 der, and embraced an extent of six miles square 
 along the Hudson some miles above Van Schaick's 
 Patent. The Apple Patent was still later ; it 
 was granted to one William Apple, and was lo- 
 cated on the Mohawk, and extended " three miles 
 back into the woods" towards Ballston Lake. 
 
 The history of these grants, their settlement 
 and the subsequent intercourse with the natives,
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 15 
 
 would form an- interesting document in the his- 
 tory of the country. Even at this late period, 
 many important facts, hitherto undisclosed, might 
 be brought to light from living witnesses, which 
 a few more years will place beyond the power 
 of the historian to recover. 
 
 The mineral waters which form the subject of 
 the ensuing treatise being situated principally in 
 the great Patent of Kayaderosscras, it will not, I 
 trust, be deemed uninteresting by most readers 
 to be made acquainted with the history of that 
 grant, particularly as it may tend to disclose the 
 true estimate which the native proprietors placed 
 upon these " health preserving fountains," if in- 
 deed they were known to them at all. 
 
 The first grant, of which there is any record, 
 of laud in what is now called the Patent of Kay- 
 aderosseras, in the county of Saratoga, was made 
 by two Indians, who, in the conveyance which 
 they gave styled themselves " Maquaes Indians, 
 owners and native proprietors of the land." 
 They are thus described in the original inden- 
 ture : " Joseph, the Indian, by them called Te-jon- 
 nin-ho-go, and Hendrick,* by them called Dc- 
 han-och-rak-has, principal owners," &c. 
 
 * This Hendrick is the same who distinguished himself in the 
 iibsu(juent wars under General William Johnson, and was slain
 
 16 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 This conveyance was made " for and in con- 
 sideration of divers goods" to David Schuylcr 
 and Robert Livingston, junior, yeomen of the 
 city of Albany, and is dated at Albany, the twen- 
 ty-sixth day of August, in the first year of her 
 majesty's reign, (Queen Anne,) Anno Domini, 
 1702. The boundaries are thus described : 
 
 " Beginning on the west side of Hudson's 
 river above Sar-ogh-to-ge's Patent ; beginning 
 opposite the creek, called by the Indians, Ti-on- 
 un-do-ga-he, and running along said side of the 
 river above the second carrying place to a small 
 island in said river,* and westward into the 
 woods as far as their property belongs, together 
 with all and singular," &c. 
 
 In the spring following, Samson Shelton 
 Broughtonj Esquire, attorney-general of the prov- 
 ince, in behalf of himself and company, obtained a 
 licence to purchase the " tract of vacant and un- 
 
 with Colonel Williams, in 1755, in an attack on a body of French 
 and Indians near Blcody Pond, not far from the head of Lake 
 George, being then upwards of seventy years old. 
 
 * This spot is described in another place thus : " From the 
 north bounds of the said Sarotogt/s Patent to a place above the 
 falls thatlieth in Hudson river above the Carrying Place that 
 ^oes over to the Wood Creek which leads the way to Canada."
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 17 
 
 appropriated land in the county of Albany, called 
 or known by the Indian name of Kayadoroscros, 
 adjoining to the north bounds of Schonectady on 
 the east side thereof, to the west bounds of So- 
 roctoga on the north side thereof, and to Albany 
 river on the west side thereof, of the native In- 
 dians and proprietors thereof, for their cultivation 
 and improvement." 
 
 This licence was granted by his excellency, 
 Edward Viscount Conbury, captain-general and 
 governor-in-chief of the province of New- York 
 and the territories depending thereon in America, 
 and vice-admiral of the same. It is dated at 
 Fort Ann, in council, in the city of New- York, the 
 twenty-second day of April, A. D, 1703. 
 
 In pursuance of this licence a purchase was 
 effected of the Indians, Joseph, Hendrick, Cor- 
 neli.s, Gideon and Amus, owners, proprietors and 
 " native Maqueas Indians and sachems, in be- 
 half of themselves and all their nation, for and in 
 consideration of the sum of sixty pounds ($150) 
 current money of the province of New- York, 
 and of sundry goods to them in hand paid," &c. 
 " by Samson Shelton Broughton, Esquire, attor- 
 ney-general of the province, Peter Fauconnier, 
 Esquire, late commissioner of the customs, and 
 Naning Hermanse Visher, of the city of Albany,
 
 18 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 mariner, for themselves and company." The 
 bounds of the tract thus granted are summed up 
 and recapitulated in the original deed thus : 
 
 " The aforesaid tract of land being bounded 
 below the All-Place and Schenectady river on 
 the- west by said river, then by the said town- 
 ship's bounds round about to said river again, 
 and still westward above the said town by the 
 said river again for eight miles at least above 
 Twek-to-non-do-hill ; thence by a north and north- 
 easterly line to the headmost spring of the stream 
 called Kayadaroseras river, and still northerly 
 by a north line continued to be run eight miles 
 further up into the woods, and yet still northerly 
 by a north or northeasterly line run from thence 
 to Albany river above Sar-og-to-ge, by the town- 
 ship of Sorogtoge, and round the same to said 
 river again ; thence by said river to Anthony 
 Van. Schaick's northeasterly corner, and souther- 
 ly by a line run from thence to the northwesterly 
 corner of Ncstiguione (Niskayuna) of Sehonec- 
 tady river, the place of beginning." 
 
 This deed is dated at Albany, the sixth day of 
 October, in the third year of her majesty's reign, 
 A. D. 1704, and is signed by all the sachems 
 above named, except Cornelis, whose name does 
 not appear among the signatures.
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 19 
 
 Immediately after this, a relinquishment of the 
 claim of Schuyler and Livingston was procured 
 by Visher in behalf of the company, for which 
 Schuyler and Livingston were to receive a cer- 
 tain portion of the lands when the patent should 
 be perfected, or in lieu thereof the sum of 100 
 ($250) in money. On the back of this agree- 
 ment is endorsed a receipt signed by Livingston 
 and Schuyler, for 90 in full satisfaction for the 
 condition. 
 
 These preliminaries being adjusted, the patent 
 was sued for and finally obtained. It was grant- 
 ed by Queen Anne in the seventh year of her 
 reign, and is dated the second day of November, 
 A. D. 1708. The grant was to "her loving sub- 
 jects. Naning Hermanse, Johannes Beekman, 
 Rip Van Dam, Ann Bridges, May Bickley, Peter 
 Fauconnier, Adrian Hogelandt, Johannes Fisher, 
 John Tuder, Joris Hogelandt, John Stevens, John 
 Tatham and Samson Broughton," and is " for all 
 that tract of land situated, lying and being in 
 the county of Albany, called Kayadoroscs, alias 
 Queensborough." 
 
 The bounds of this extensive tract of land which 
 has become so interesting to the present genera- 
 tion, arc here copied verbatim from the original 
 patent :
 
 20 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 " Beginning at a place on Schonectady river* 
 about three miles distant from the southwesterly 
 corner of the bounds of Nastiguione, the said 
 place being the southwesterly corner of the pat- 
 ent lately granted to Naning Harmense, Peter 
 Fauconnier and others ; thence along the said 
 Schonectady river, westerly to the southeasterly 
 corner of a patent lately granted to William Ap- 
 ple ; thence along the easterly, northerly and 
 westerly line of the said Apple's Patent down to 
 the above said river ; thence to the Schonectady 
 bounds of the southeasterly corner of the said 
 patent, on the said river, so along the easterly, 
 northerly and westerly bounds thereof down to 
 the said river again ; thence along the said river 
 up westerly to the southeasterly bounds of a tract 
 of land lately granted to Ebenezer Wilson and 
 John Abel and so along the said patent round to 
 the southwesterly corner thereof on the said 
 Schonectady river to a place or hill called Twac- 
 tononda, being five miles distant, or thereabouts, 
 from the said southwesterly corner of the said 
 Wilson's and Abel's Patent ; thence along north- 
 erly to the northwestmost head of a creek called 
 Kayadoroses, about fourteen miles, more or less ; 
 
 * This river in another place is styled " Schonectady, Mo- 
 haks, or Maqueas river."
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 21 
 
 thence eight miles more northerly ; thence east- 
 erly or northeasterly to the third falls on Albany 
 river, about twenty miles, -more or less ; thence 
 along the said river down southerly to the north- 
 easterly bounds of Saroghtoge ; thence along the 
 said Saroghtoge's northerly, westerly and south- 
 erly bounds on the said river ; thence to the north- 
 easterly corner of Anthony Van Schaick's land 
 on the said river, so northerly and westerly along 
 the said Van Schaick's Patent to the northeast 
 corner of the above said patent granted to Naning 
 Harmense, Fauconnier and others ; thence along 
 the northerly and westerly bounds thereof down 
 to the above said river of Schonectady, being the 
 place where it first began." 
 
 The consideration for all the lands contained in 
 the foregoing limits, was merely 4 (810) quit rent 
 to be paid, in current money of the state of New- 
 York, yearly forever, on the " Feast day of the 
 annonciation of our blessed Virgin Mary, (com- 
 monly called Lady Day,") to the collector or 
 receiver-general at the custom house, in the city 
 of New-York ; the crown reserving to itself all 
 gold and .silver mines, and conditioning that one 
 or more settlement on some part thereof should 
 be effected within seven years from the date of 
 the .said patent.
 
 22 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 This last stipulation was entirely neglected 
 until the seventeenth of October, 1715, when the 
 company becoming alarmed at the prospect of 
 forfeiting the patent from this neglect, the major 
 part of them entered into an agreement with 
 Naning Hermense, of Albany, to effect a settle- 
 ment on the said lands, on or before the first day 
 of May ensuing, and he was to receive in consid- 
 eration for his services, one thousand acres of 
 land, over and above his share, to be located any 
 where in the patent, excepting on the Kayaderos- 
 seras creek, where, it seems, the lands were held 
 in much higher estimation than in any other part 
 of the tract. 
 
 It does not appear, from any documents which 
 I have the means of examining, where the first 
 settlement was made ; but it is highly probable, 
 from the frequent discomfitures among the remote 
 settlers occasioned by the incursions of hostile In- 
 dians in the vicinity, that the first settlers did not 
 remove very far into the interior ; doubtless they 
 were located in the vicinity of Schenectady or 
 along the north side of the Mohawk. 
 
 On the Hudson, settlements might have been 
 made much earlier, particularly on the patents of 
 Van Schaick and Saratoga ; but it does not ap- 
 pear that there were, at the period to which we
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 23 
 
 allude, (1715,) any settlements above the patent of 
 Saratoga, that is, north of the Fish creek, or what 
 is now called Schuylerville ; and there could have 
 been but a few scattering inhabitants between 
 that and the Mohawk. It was in the year 1747 
 that the town of Saratoga was burnt by the In- 
 dians, and the inhabitants, consisting of about 
 thirty families, were mostly massacred ;* and 
 about the same time the family of Kettles were 
 murdered by the savages. This latter circum- 
 stance forms the subject of a story, interestingly 
 told by Mrs. Ten Eyck. The place where the 
 family resided was but six miles above Water- 
 ford, immediately on the bank of the Hudson, 
 nearly opposite to what is called the lower 
 borough in Schaghticoke, and on the farm lately 
 owned by John Ten Broeck, and more recently 
 by one Strachan. The ruins of the cellar were 
 visible, and a few aged fruit trees, said to have 
 been planted by the family, were in blossom, when 
 I last visited the place, a few years since. 
 
 From the period above alluded to until the 
 final conquest and consequent subjection of the 
 
 * This settlement was at the mouth of Fish creek, where 
 Schuylerville now stands, and a {jeiHleinnn by the name of John 
 Schuyler, one of the ancestors of the present proprietor of that 
 village, was among the slain.
 
 24 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 province of Canada to the British government, the 
 progress of emigration to this part of the country, 
 which was then an exposed frontier, was greatly 
 retarded. 
 
 i 
 
 V 
 
 During the summer of 1755, the fort was com- 
 menced and completed at Fort Edward, which 
 was then called the " Great Carrying Place" 
 and at the same time a road was cut through the 
 woods to the head of Lake George, where the 
 Fort William Henry was commenced and a small 
 garrison established at both places. This added 
 greatly to the security of the settlements to the 
 south ; but it was not until the arrival of General 
 Amherst in the year 1759, who passed up the 
 Hudson and through the lake to Canada, and 
 completed the subjugation of that province, that 
 the incursions of the hostile Indians were effectu- 
 ally checked, and complete security restored to 
 the frontier settlers. 
 
 From this period the country began to be more 
 rapidly settled ; the settlements, however, were 
 principally confined, for several years, to the 
 banks of tho Hudson or the Mohawk. The ex- 
 treme fertility of the soil, the advantages of mill 
 seats, and the facility of cutting timber, gave to 
 the neighborhood of these and their tributary 
 streams, an advantage that was not to be over-
 
 HISTORY O THE SPRINGS. 25 
 
 looked by the adventurous and enterprising emi- 
 grants. 
 
 At what precise period of time the mineral 
 springs, which have now become so important in 
 the history of the country, were discovered and 
 their properties first observed, cannot now, with 
 any degree of certainty, be ascertained. It is 
 but reasonable, however, to infer that the discov- 
 ery was sometime subsequent to the transfer of 
 the title by the natives, as that circumstance took 
 place without any intimation as to the fact of the 
 existence of such waters, which could hardly be 
 supposed to have happened had any importance 
 been attached to their properties, or had they, 
 indeed, been known to exist at all ; and it is 
 equally probable that those to whom the transfer 
 was made were likewise ignorant on the subject, 
 for they made, some years afterwards, grants to 
 individuals with the privilege to locate any w/tcrr. 
 except on the flats of the Kayaderosscras. 
 
 The fame which this part of the country had 
 long sustained as a hunting ground must have 
 attracted the attention of those who occupied 
 themselves in the labors of the chase at a very 
 early period, and it is highly probable that an ob- 
 ject so singular and conspicuous as the High 
 Hock would have presented itself to the attention 
 
 c
 
 26 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 of some of these adventurers at a much earlier 
 period than is now generally known ; but what- 
 ever might have been the knowledge of individu- 
 als, it is certain that but little general information 
 had been diffused on the subject until 'about the 
 year 1767. 
 
 General William Johnson, who had retired 
 from his command in the army with the title of 
 Baronet, conferred by his Britannic majesty as a 
 special favor for his brave defence of Fort Wil- 
 liam Henry, now resided at Johnstown, about 
 thirty miles west of the Springs, in the capacity 
 of Indian agent. Sir William being indisposed* 
 and finding little or no benefit from the applica- 
 tion of such limited means as his situation ena- 
 bled him to apply, was induced, at the instigation 
 of the Indians, with whom he was always a great 
 favorite, to undertake a journey to the Springs, 
 and in the month of June or July, he set out on 
 the expedition. They passed down the Mohawk 
 to Schenectady, from whence they travelled 
 through the woods to Ballston Lake ; here they 
 tarried over night at the hut of one Michael Me- 
 
 G 
 
 Donald, a Scotch adventurer, who, with a young 
 
 * Sir William was wounded in the defence of the garrison of 
 Lake George, and the wound, although slight at first, continu- 
 ed to trouble him the remainder ot" his days.
 
 HISTORY QF THE SPRINGS. 27 
 
 family, had just commenced a settlement in the 
 midst of the wilderness.* 
 
 On the following day, accompanied by Mc- 
 Donald and his Indian guides, Sir William arriv- 
 ed at the High Rock Spring, then the only one 
 known ; here he remained a number of days, be- 
 ing well supplied with provisions by the dexterity 
 of his hunters, and the whole company regaling 
 themselves with large potations of the water, of 
 which they soon became remarkably fond. 
 
 At the termination of his residence here, Sir 
 William's health became perfectly reinstated, and 
 although he had been brought to the place the 
 greater part of the way on a litter borne on the 
 shoulders of the Indians, he was enabled to travel 
 back to Schenectady on foot. 
 
 The fame of this extraordinary cure on a per- 
 sonage so distinguished as Sir William, soon 
 spread over the country, and from this period 
 " THE SPRINGS" began to be the resort of in- 
 valids. 
 
 ' McDonald continued to reside on the same spot, until a few 
 yearn nince, when he died, being upwards of eighty years old, 
 leaving a line well cultivated farm a.s a patrimony to a large 
 family.
 
 28 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 In the year 1770 and '71 several families loca- 
 ted themselves on the highlands on the east side 
 of Saratoga Lake, a little to the southeast of 
 Snake Hill ; and about the same time, John 
 Laing. Roland Perry and John Stiles, settled at. 
 Palmertown, (now Wilton.) about six miles north- 
 east from the Springs. From these settlements, ex- 
 cursions were frequently made to the High Rock 
 through paths that were only passable on foot, 
 
 In the year 1773, one Dirck Scowton. influ- 
 enced by a desire to trade with the Indians as 
 well as to afford accommodations to visitants, 
 commenced a settlement on the high bank a little 
 west of the High Rock on the spot where Bent- 
 ley's tavern now stands. Here ho cut down a 
 few trees, and with the assistance of several per- 
 sons who accompanied him for the purpose, they 
 were rolled up to form a hut ; but before he had 
 time to render it sufficiently comfortable for n 
 dwelling, owing, as it was said, to some misunder- 
 standing with the Indians, he was induced to 
 abandon his project, and it is believed that ha 
 never afterwards returned. 
 
 During the following season one John Arnold. 
 arrived from the state of Rhode-Island, with a 
 young family, at the east side of Saratoga Lake, 
 nnd from the representations made to him, ht
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 29 
 
 was induced to try his fortunes at the Springs. 
 Having provided himself with a few articles suit- 
 able for Indian traffic, consisting mostly of spirit- 
 uous liquors, he embarked his little stock in trade, 
 together with his family and a few necessary 
 articles of furniture, on board of a canoe near 
 Snake Hill, paddled across the lake and up the 
 Kayaderosseras creek about two miles ; here he 
 landed, and taking their goods upon their backs, 
 they followed a foot path which conducted them 
 through the woods to the Springs. 
 
 On their arrival, Arnold took possession of the 
 house that had been built by Scowton, and hav- 
 ing improved it so as to render it comfortable for 
 his family, he opened a kind of rude tavern. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Arnold, a highly respectable far- 
 mer, i.s now living in the town of Stillwater, 
 about eight miles from the Springs. He is the 
 son of John Arnold, and accompanied the family 
 during their residence at the place, and although 
 but nine years old at the time, retains a perfect 
 recollection of the appearance of the country 
 and the circumstances relating to his fathers res- 
 idence here. 
 
 The valley along the brook was covered by iarge 
 trees of hemlock, elm and maple ; and the bank 
 c '
 
 30 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS; 
 
 on the west side of the valley with a thick growth 
 of overgrown white pine, while the opposite side 
 was a perfect thicket of yellow and pitch pine. 
 
 The High Rock and Flat Rock were the only 
 springs at that time known. The hole or open- 
 ing at the top of the High Rock was at times 
 nearly filled with water, but this only happened 
 in wet seasons or during long periods of wet 
 weather. The water usually stood some inches 
 below the top of the hole where its surface was 
 in a constant state of agitation. This agitation, 
 when the hole was nearly full of water, would, at 
 times, cause it to surge over and run down its 
 sides, but this very seldom happened. There 
 was nothing like a constant discharge from the 
 top of the rock at any time. The water, how- 
 ever, w r as at all times so high as to be easily dipped 
 with the hand.* There were the remains of a 
 small hut or cabin near the rock, probably the one 
 built by Sir William Johnson. 
 
 * Tliis rising and falling of the water in the rock gave origin 
 to the opinion entertained by the first visitants, that it "ebbed 
 and flowed with the tide." The water, although now some feet 
 below the top of the rock, still continues to rise and fall with the 
 state of the season, as any one may observe who will take the- 
 trouble to measure it at the proper time?.
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 31 
 
 The Flat Rock covered a quantity of ground of 
 several rods in extent ; it was considerably eleva- 
 ted above the marsh or swamp which surrounded 
 it ; the surface was flat and hard, and was perfo- 
 rated in numerous places, where the water stood 
 in little pools, through the bottom of which it was 
 constantly bubbling up. The marsh and grounds 
 about the rock were much broken and trodden up 
 by the footsteps of wild animals which flocked 
 here in great numbers to drink of the water, of 
 which, there is every reason to believe, they were 
 voraciously fond. Deer and moose would, at 
 times, when in pursuit of this beverage, appa- 
 rently lose their wildness and suffer themselves 
 to be closely approached, and they were fre- 
 quently shot by the Indians, and other hunters, 
 while regaling themselves at this fountain. 
 
 The woods abounded with wild game. Bears, 
 deer, wolves and moose were seen almost every 
 day ; and the small stream which runs through 
 the valley was the abode of beaver and great 
 quantities of salmon trout. 
 
 There were sixteen cabins occupied by differ- 
 ent families of Indians, all in sight of Arnold's 
 house. These Indians were principally employ- 
 ed in hunting and fishing, and although frequent- 
 ly intoxicated, they were generally inoftensive 
 and friend Iv.
 
 32 HISTORY OP THE SPRINGS. 
 
 There was a small clearing on the top of the 
 hill south from where the Union Hall now stands. 
 This was probably the first cleared spot in the 
 vicinity of the Springs. It was said to have been 
 done by a man who went by the name of Indian 
 Joe, a half blood, who resided among the Indians 
 in the neighborhood. 
 
 On the approach of winter, Arnold shut up his 
 house and went over to the settlement on the east 
 side of the lake, but returned early in the spring 
 and resumed his business, which he continued, 
 however, till fall only, when he again left the 
 place. He was succeeded by one Samuel Nor- 
 ton, who had previously obtained a permission 
 from Isaac Low to occupy and improve a farm 
 in the vicinity of the "salt spring" at Saratoga, 
 under a stipulation to receive pay for his improve- 
 ments should he think proper at any time to re- 
 move. Low had acquired his title to the soil by 
 purchase from the heirs of Rip Van Dam, to 
 whom, on the general partition of the patent, this 
 portion of it devolved.* 
 
 * In 1770 the patent was divided, and lot number twelve, 
 (which includes the mineral waters and a considerable portion 
 of the adjoining lands at Saratoga Springs,) in the sixteenth 
 general allotment, was sold by the representatives of Rip Van 
 Dam to Anthony Van Dam, Jacob Walton and Isaac Low.
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. S3 
 
 Norton took possession of the house the same 
 season that Arnold left it, and continued to make 
 considerable improvements by clearing up the 
 land, &c. through the succeeding season. But 
 the war of the revolution, which had already 
 commenced, was now becoming every day more 
 and more serious, and he began to be alarmed 
 for the safety of his family, and thought it pru- 
 dent to remove them from a situation where they 
 were so much exposed to the aggressions of the 
 contending parties. He finally joined the British 
 army, where he soon after died, and the Springs 
 were again left without a single inhabitant. 
 
 Low absented himself from the county during 
 the war, and his lands were of course sold by the 
 commissioners of forfeitures; those which he own- 
 ed at the Springs were sold to Henry Livingston 
 in 178G, for himself and brothcis. 
 
 In the spring of 1783, a son of Norton resum- 
 ed the occupancy of the former possessions of his 
 father at the Springs, and continued to clear and 
 improve the land in the vicinity until the year 
 17H7, when lie sold his possessions and improve- 
 ments to one Gideon Morgan, who the same year 
 transferred them to Alexander Bryant. Bryant 
 must be considered the first permanent settler 
 here after the close of the war: he built a black-
 
 34 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 smith's shop, and erected an additional log house 
 which he opened for the accommodation of visit- 
 ajits; and there are persons yet living who recol- 
 lect with peculiar pleasure, the clean apartments 
 and comfortable accommodations afforded by the 
 proprietor of this humble mansion.* 
 
 In the year 1783, General Philip Schuyler, 
 who had a farm and a number of mills at the 
 
 * Bryant was a slirewd and somewhat of an eccentric charac- 
 ter, and the events of his life, if generally known, would un- 
 doubtedly place his name among the patriots of his time, and 
 furnish a deserved monument to his memory. 
 
 He was, I believe, a native of the state of Connecticut ; but 
 emigrated to that of New- York early in life, and fixed his resi- 
 dence in the county ofDutchess. Here he connected himself 
 by marriage with a highly respectable family, and some years 
 alter removed to the town of Ilalfmoon, in the county of Sara- 
 toga, where he commenced the business of tavern keeping at a 
 place situated about two miles above Water-ford, on what was 
 then the great road which furnished the principal means of com- 
 munication between the northern and southern frontiers. On 
 this spot he continued to reside during the war of the revolu- 
 tion, and his house, of course, became frequently the resort of 
 the partisans of the contending powers; and such was/ the 
 adroitness of his management that he became the unreserved 
 confidant of both parties, without even being once suspected of 
 treachery by either. Of his patriotism, however, and his sin- 
 cere attachment to the interests of his country, there cannot ex- 
 ist a doubt. The important secrets which he frequently obtain- 
 ed from his confiding friends, the tories, were soon disclosed 
 to the committees of safety, with whom he managed to keep a
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 35 
 
 mouth of the Fish-Creek, caused a road to be 
 opened from that place to the Springs, and hav- 
 ing set up a large wall tent near the High Roclc, 
 occupied it with his family for the space of three 
 or four weeks. They were so well pleased with 
 the result of this visit, that the following season 
 he caused a small frame building to be erected 
 on the high land a little southwest from the High 
 Rock, where he continued to reside five or six 
 
 constant although a secret communication. The numerous 
 and essential services which he thus rendered to his country 
 continued for a long time to excite the admiration and grati- 
 tude of his few surviving associates, to whom alone they were 
 known and by whom their importance could only be properly 
 estimated : and it is to be regretted that, to the day of his 
 death, they remained unacknowledged and unrewarded by any 
 token or profession of gratitude from his country. 
 
 \\ hi 'ii Gen. Gates took the command of the northern army, 
 iie applied to the committee of safety of Stillwntcr, to provide a 
 suitable person to go into Burgoyne's camp, with a view to ob- 
 laiii a knowledge of the movements of the enemy. Bryant was 
 immediately selected as a person well qualified to undertake the 
 hazardrns enterprise, and he readily agreed to accomplish it. 
 Abofit the same time he was applied to by a friend of the ene- 
 my to convey some intelligence which he deemed of importance 
 to Hurjioyne ; this lie likewise undertook, having secretly obtain- 
 ed tho consent of Gen. Gates for that purpose. By pursuing a 
 circuiting route, he arrived unmolested at the camp of the ene- 
 my, winch was then situated in the vicinity of Fort Edward. 
 Having had several inti.Tvitnvs with Gen. Burgoync, by whom 
 };; "a- <;los'-lv examined, he was finally employed by that offi
 
 36 HISTORY OP THE SPRINGS. 
 
 weeks every year during the remainder of his 
 life. This house was standing until a few years 
 past ; it consisted of two rooms, with a stone fire 
 place and chimney ; it was enclosed and lined 
 with rough boards, and was the first framed house 
 built in the place. 
 
 In the year 1780, a Dr. Blakesley and Gideon 
 Putnam commenced a settlement at the Springs. 
 
 cer to superintend some concerns in the ordnance department. 
 He tarried sufficiently long to obtain the required information, 
 v, r hen he privately left the camp in the gray of the morning of 
 the 15th of September; but he had not proceeded many miles 
 before he discovered that he was pursued by two horsemen ; 
 these, however, he contrived to avoid, and arrived safely at Gates' 
 head-quarters late on the following night, and communicated 
 the first intelligence of the enemy's having crossed the Hudson 
 and being on the advance to Stillwater. This intelligence was 
 of great importance, as it led to the immediate preparation for 
 the sanguinary engagement which ensued on the 19th of the 
 same month. 
 
 Bryant continued to reside at the Springs for more than thirty 
 years, and until age had rendered him incompetent for active 
 life. He then retired to the county of Scoharie, where he died 
 at an advanced age. He possessed a strong constitution, a 
 sound and vigorous mind, and a benevolent and kind disposi- 
 tion. The poor, the miserable and the unfortunate were al- 
 ways the objects of his care, his kindness and his charily. But 
 his eccentricities often involved him in difficulties with his more 
 opulent neighbors, and, at times, disturbed the tranquillity ofhis 
 roost intimate friends'.
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 3*7 
 
 Blakesley occupied the log building erected by 
 Scowton, and Putnam located on a new farm 
 three fourths of a mile westerly from the village, 
 It is to the enterprize of this latter gentleman that 
 the village is indebted for much of its early im- 
 provement, and the public for the first elegant and 
 commodious accommodations which the place 
 afforded. 
 
 In the year following, (1790,) Benjamin Risley, 
 Esquire, from Vermont, bought the house which 
 Scowton built, and having erected some addi- 
 tions, opened it for the accommodation of visit- 
 ants. This, and the house kept by Bryant on the 
 opposite corner, and but a few rods distant, con- 
 tinued to be rival establishments for a number of 
 years. Risley, a few years after, built the yellow 
 house near the upper end of the village, which 
 has been occupied as a tavern ever since. He 
 likewise built a small house on the opposite side 
 of the street, nearly against the yellow tavern, 
 which was occupied for a time as a boarding 
 house, but was, some years since, burnt down.' 
 
 * This fire happened in June, 1807, two dwelling houses and 
 
 several out building were destroyed, and an aged gentleman 
 
 F>y the name of Miller, from the town of Diimmerston, in .Ma.s- 
 
 achuKCttH, who lodged in an upper room in one oi 'he iiuil'f- 
 
 7)
 
 38 HISTORY OF TIIE SPRINGS. 
 
 About the year 1794, the Messrs. John andZi- 
 ba Taylor opened a small store in one of the 
 rooms of Risley's house. They afterwards built 
 a small log house which they occupied for the 
 same purpose ; this stood on the high land, forty 
 or fifty rods north from the High Rock Spring, 
 but every vestige of it has long since disappear- 
 ed. These gentlemen subsequently erected mills 
 in the vicinity, and contributed much to the clear- 
 ing and improving the surrounding country. 
 
 During the summer of 1792 the Congress 
 Spring was first discovered. Three gentlemen 
 were boarding at Risley's who frequently amused 
 themselves by hunting for small game in the 
 neighboring woods. One of them, John Taylor 
 Oilman, of Exeter, New Hampshire, (afterwards 
 Governor of that state,) and who then was, or 
 had bcjn a member of congress, accidently dis- 
 covered a small stream of water issuing from an 
 aperture in the side of a rock, the face of which 
 formed the border of the brook. An appearance 
 so singular attracted his attention, and on exam- 
 ining it more attentively he found it to be a strong 
 mineral water. He communicated the discovery 
 to his associates, and in the afternoon of the same 
 
 ings, lost his life by jumping from the window of his apart- 
 ment.
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRIXGS. 39 
 
 day he conducted his landlord, together with 
 a number of other persons, to the spot. It was 
 situated a few feet further west and on the oppo- 
 site side of the brook from where the Congress 
 spring now is. The water issued from an aper- 
 ture which resembled a worm hole in one of 
 those large masses of silicious lime rock which 
 form the upper stratum of the rock formation at 
 this place. Its taste and other sensible qualities 
 satisfied the company that the discovery was an 
 important one ; and the spring was immediately 
 dignified by the consent of all the persons pres- 
 ent, with the name of the CONGRESS SPRING, 
 out of respect to the discoverer, and as a compli- 
 ment to the superior strength of its waters. 
 
 About the year 1770 it is said that a Dr. Con- 
 stable, who resided at Schenectady, examined 
 the waters at Saratoga and Ballston, and pro- 
 nounced them highly medicinal ; and in 1783, Dr. 
 Samuel Tenny, a regimental surgeon stationed at 
 Fish-creek, visited the Springs, and made some 
 interesting and judicious remarks on their prop- 
 erties and uses as a medicine. The result of his 
 observations he addressed in a letter to Dr. 
 Joshua Fisher, of Boston, which was subsequent- 
 ly published in the Memoirs of the American 
 Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. II, part I, 
 1793,
 
 40 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 The venerable Samuel L. Mitchill, LL. D. of 
 the city of New-York, records it as one of the 
 remarkable incidents of his life, that in the year 
 1787, he "visited the Springs at Saratoga while 
 surrounded by the forest, and ascertained experi- 
 mentally that the gas extricated from the water 
 was fixed air, with the power to extinguish flame 
 and destroy the life of breathing animals." 
 
 It does not appear, however, that there was 
 any attempt at a scientific examination of these 
 waters until the year 1793, when Valentine Sea- 
 man, M. D. then one of the surgeons of the New- 
 York Hospital, and an eminent physician of the 
 city, published ' A Dissertation on the mineral 
 waters of Saratoga." His chemical experiments 
 were principally confined to the water of the 
 High Rock spring ; and to him very justly be- 
 longs the honor of first developing the time char- 
 acter and qualities of these interesting fountains. 
 From the result of his enquiries he inferred and 
 published his views on the " use and medical vir- 
 tues of the waters." In the year 1795, Dr. Van- 
 dervoort published the result of his experiments 
 on the waters of Ballston. 
 
 These publications had the effect to produce a 
 more general knowledge of the properties of the 
 waters, and to confirm the jrood opinion which
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 41 
 
 had already been formed of their efficacy in 
 many complaints. The consequence was an in- 
 crease of company to such an extent as to evince 
 the necessity of more extensive and better ar- 
 ranged accommodations. Influenced by this 
 consideration, Mr. Putnam, whose enterprize was 
 always active, was induced to build a large and 
 commodious house near the Congress spring, 
 around which, at the time, the country was a 
 perfect wilderness. He commenced it in 1SOO, 
 and in the spring of 1802 the Union Hall, then 
 called Putnam's tavern,* was opened for compa- 
 ny. It consisted of a large dining room, two par- 
 lours and a commodious kitchen on the first floor, 
 and the two upper stories were divided into lodg- 
 ing rooms. 
 
 ^ 
 
 In 1SOS, Jotham Holmes, who had before kept 
 a house near the High Rock, commenced build- 
 ing the Columbian Hotel near the Flat Rock, 
 and the following season it was opened for com- 
 pany. The success which attended these first 
 efforts induced Mr. Putnam to extend the means 
 of accommodation still further. He added con- 
 siderably to the- dimensions of the Union Hall, 
 and in 1x12 commenced the Congress Hall on 
 
 * The si0n -.va.- a rudely painted representation of the story 
 of Putmm and the wo!f
 
 42 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS, 
 
 the opposite side of the street ; but before it was 
 completed, its worthy and enterprizing proprie- 
 tor died, and the completion of the building was 
 consequently delayed until the fall of 1814, when 
 it was sold to Graudus Van Schoonhovcn, who 
 finished it, and in the spring of 1815 it was 
 opened. 
 
 From this period, the character of the waters, 
 and the excellency of the accommodations af- 
 forded to visitants, began to be more generally 
 known and more justly appreciated ; and the lit- 
 tle village, as it emerged from the surrounding 
 wilderness, began to present the appearance of a 
 place of fashion and extravagance, and from be- 
 ing the mere humble abode of the indigent and 
 infirm, suddenly became the resort of the most 
 polite and polished society. Such was the rapid 
 increase of company, that it became necessary 
 that still further accommodations should be pro- 
 vided ; and in 1819, the Pavilion was opened by 
 Mr. Lewis, and in 1824, the United States Hotel 
 by Mr. Ford. All these establishments have 
 from time to time been enlarged and improved, 
 until they may be ranked among the most spa- 
 cious and imposing buildings of the kind in the 
 l T nited States ; and for good fare and polite at- 
 tentions, will not suffer by a comparison with 
 hose of any country.
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 43 
 
 The village was incorporated by an act of the 
 legislature in the spring of 1827. It contains 
 about three hundred dwelling houses, five church- 
 es, a printing office and reading-room, together 
 with a number of stores and mechanic shops, and 
 at the present time between two and three thou- 
 sand inhabitants. It possesses no peculiar ad- 
 vantages either for manufacturing or mercantile 
 pursuits; it is therefore' indebted alone to its 
 character as a watering place, for the advances 
 which it has heretofore made in improvement 
 and population. 
 
 The village is situated at the termination oi 
 one of the spurs of the immense pile of primitive 
 mountains which separate the waters of Lake 
 Champlain from those of the St. Lawrence. It 
 is twelve miles west from Schuylerville on the 
 Hudson, and thirty cast from Johnstown in the 
 county of Montgomery ; it is thirty-four miles 
 northerly from Albany, 'and twenty-seven south- 
 erly from Lake George. Its principal street is 
 one hundred and forty feet in width and nearly 
 one mile in extent. The houses arc well built, 
 and the whole village has an air of neatness and 
 salubrity seldom equalled in any country village, 
 Formerly the inhabitants were subject to attacks 
 <>f intermittent and remittent fevers, but for the 
 l'i-t ten years these diseases have entirely disap-
 
 44 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS, 
 
 peared. This remarkable exemption is imputed 
 to the destruction of a number of mill-dams in 
 the surrounding country, and the clearing and 
 draining of the low marshy grounds in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of the place, which must, during 
 their existence, have afforded fruitful sources for 
 those exhalations, to which has always been im- 
 puted the origin of these afflicting diseases. Nor 
 is the surrcmnding country less exempt from 
 those pestiferous exhalations which render a 
 place insalubrious and improper for even the 
 temporary residence of invalids. The springs 
 are situated in an elevated district, and in the 
 immediate vicinity of an extensive range of moun- 
 tainous country ; the atmosphere, therefore, is 
 remarkably pure and invigorating, affording to 
 the diseased one of the best selected spots that 
 could be chosen for the improvement of a broken 
 or impaired constitution, 
 
 But Saratoga is not only interesting on account 
 of the salubrity of its waters and the purity of its 
 air ; the name is associated with the great events 
 which gave birth to the empire ; her plains are 
 distinguished in the history of freedom. It was 
 here our fathers fought and bled ! and here the 
 sight of their graves daily reminds us of their val- 
 our and their patriotism. It was here, during the 
 dark and gloomy period of the revolution, that
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPRINGS. 45. 
 
 the light of liberty first dawned upon our then 
 benighted land, and cheered the hearts of our 
 desponding countrymen with a full prospect 
 of a great and glorious day ; and although the 
 bones of those who fell upon her plains are 
 now scarcely distinguishable from the earth, 
 which covers them, yet the spot of their repose 
 will be sought after and remembered while pat- 
 riotism shall have a votary, or liberty a name. 
 The scene of the defeat and surrender of Gene- 
 ral Burgoyne is but two hours ride from the 
 Springs, and is full of interest. 
 
 The falls of the Hudson are numerous, and 
 some of them highly interesting, particularly those 
 of Baker, Glen and Iladley ; they are situated 
 about eighteen miles from the Springs, and are 
 well worth the attention of the tourist. 
 
 Saratoga Lake is but four miles distant from the 
 Springs. It is- a beautiful sheet of pure water, 
 nine miles in extent from north to south, and from 
 one to three in width. The scenery around it is 
 diversified and highly picturesque, while the lake 
 itself abounds with a variety of fish and its bor- 
 ders with abundance of small game, ailbrding 1 
 the sportsman and epicure a never failing source 
 of amusement, and gratification,
 
 46 HISTORY OF TUB SPRINGS. 
 
 Lake George, twenty-seven miles distant, pre- 
 sents a scenery sublime, beautiful and romantic 
 beyond description. Here the invalid may not 
 only be exhilarated by the delightful prospects 
 which surround him, but will find himself invigo- 
 rated by inhaling the pure air of the mountains, 
 and bathing in the limpid and uncontaminated 
 waters of the Sacred Lake* 
 
 The artist may here occupy his pencil in delin- 
 eating some of the grandest views which the Uni- 
 ted States any where present, and which fancy in 
 her wildest and most extravagant exertions can 
 never imitate or improve. Indeed, no being, en- 
 dowed with reason and common sense, can ever 
 visit this spot without receiving impressions calcu- 
 lated to elevate his views of the divinity of nature, 
 and the dignity and grandeur of her works. 
 
 The roads leading to all these places are tole- 
 rably good, particularly where they pass over the 
 plain country ; as they are there not only level 
 and dry, but frequently hard and smooth in con- 
 sequence of the admixture of loam with sand. 
 The invalid may, therefore, select such route from 
 the Springs as may best suit the state of his 
 
 * The French, who first discovered the lake, gave it the 
 nime of " La';e Sacrament" from the purity of its waters,
 
 HISTORY OF THE SFKIXGS. 47 
 
 health. II" feeble or afflicted with painful disease, 
 he may ride on the plains without fatigue ; or if 
 more vigorous and courting exercise, he may 
 mount the hills in Greenfield to the north, where, 
 in a tour of eight or ten miles, he may enjoy a 
 mountain scenery. 
 
 The approach to the Springs from the south is 
 now effected by rail road the time actually em- 
 ployed in travelling between them and New- York 
 not generally exceeding from 15 to 18 hours. A 
 rail road has also been commenced between Sara- 
 toga Springs and Whitehall, on Lake Champlain, 
 and when completed, will perfect the great chain 
 of internal communication by steam from Quebec 
 to North Carolina. 
 
 Saratoga, as a point of attraction, will prove a 
 resting place for travellers designing a northern 
 or southern excursion, and, like the watering 
 places in Europe, will also be doubtless selected 
 as a locality for the country seats of many of the 
 opulent. Indeed, it is already beginning to as- 
 sume that character, and to give evidence that the 
 period is not distant when it will become as popu- 
 lous and in all respects equal tho most renowned 
 and fashionable towns of the kind on the eastern 
 continent.
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS 
 
 ON THB 
 
 COUNTY OF SARATOGA. 
 
 TILE arrangement of the different geological 
 formations in this county is peculiarly interesting, 
 and affords one of the happiest opportunities for 
 acquiring a knowledge of the general outlines of 
 the science of geology. The primitive transition 
 and secondary formations present themselves al- 
 most at one view, and afford to the enquirer an 
 opportunity for studying the physical characters, 
 positions and arrangements with a facility that 
 can scarcely be surpassed at any other spot. But 
 before I proceed to a description of its geological 
 structure, it will be necessary to say a few words 
 on the geography of the county. 
 
 The county of Saratoga was set off from the 
 county of Albany in the year 1791. It is situated 
 between 42 deg. 40 min. and 43 deg. 23 min. 
 north latitude, and 26 min. east and 10 min. west 
 longitude from the city of New- York, and is di- 
 vided into twenty townships, the greater part of 
 which arc highly cultivated, and all of them in a
 
 50 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 state of rapid improvement. The soil is generally 
 good and well adapted to either pasturage or 
 culture. 
 
 Formerly the great quantity of fine timber, 
 which the land every where produced, its prox- 
 imity to market, and the facilities afforded for 
 erecting mills on never failing streams of water, 
 induced the earlier settlers to turn their attention 
 to the business of lumbering, to the almost entire 
 neglect of the land. But the disappearance of 
 the timber has now nearly put a stop to this kind 
 of traffic, and the farmer is beginning to consult 
 his better interest in the cultivation and improve- 
 ment of his farm ; and in a few more years this 
 county will rank among the first in the state both 
 for the quantity and quality of its productions. 
 
 The face of the country is undulating, and the 
 soil considerably diversified in its character. 
 Along the Hudson there are some tracts of allu- 
 vial bottoms extremely fertile ; but it is remarkable 
 that this river does not produce such extensive 
 tracts of alluvial lands as are usually found along 
 streams of its magnitude. Back from the river 
 there are extensive tracts of sandy soil intermixed 
 with a light loam. The soil of the mountainous 
 districts is of a gravelly consistence, intermixed 
 with much vegetable substance, while that which
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 5] 
 
 occupies the space between the mountains and 
 the sandy plains is generally of a rich vegetable 
 mould. 
 
 The northern part of the county is mountainous. 
 It consists of two elevated ridges, the first of 
 which is styled the Palmertown mountains. It is 
 a continuation or spur of the immense pile of prim- 
 itive mountains which occupy the space between 
 the waters of Lake Champlain and those of the 
 St. Lawrence. They enter the county a few 
 miles west of Glen's Falls, on the Hudson, in the 
 town of Moreau, from whence this ridge, pursu- 
 ing a southwesterly course, gradually sinks to the 
 level of the plain lands in the vicinity of the min- 
 eral waters at Saratoga Springs. It presents an 
 abrupt front, in many places precipitous, and rises 
 in some parts to the height of several hundred 
 feet above the level of the plains which lie to the 
 cast and south of it. From the top of this range 
 the land gradually declines to the west for the 
 distance of six or seven miles, when it is again 
 abruptly thrown into another ridge called the 
 Kayaderosseras mountains. This, like the Pal- 
 mertown ridge, is a spur from the same group of 
 primitive mountains to the north. It sinks to the 
 general livel of the country. In the town of Gal- 
 way it presents an appearance very similar to 
 that of the Palmertown mountains, and like that
 
 52 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 declines gradually to the west until it comes in 
 contact with another spur from the same source, 
 called the Sacanadaga or Sacandaga mountains, 
 which terminate at or near the Little Falls on the 
 Mohawk ; this range is in the county of Mont- 
 gomery. 
 
 The waters of the Sacandaga river, one of the 
 principal branches of the Hudson, have their 
 source in this latter range of mountains, and col- 
 lecting their scattered branches, they pursue an 
 easterly course, and passing through the Kayade- 
 rosseras mountains unite with the Hudson. These 
 waters now pursue a southerly course for a few 
 miles only, when they again strike off to the east, 
 and continuing the course, pass through the Palm- 
 crtown mountains, and in the vicinity of Glen's 
 Falls again take a southerly direction, and pur- 
 sue it with but little variation to the city of New- 
 York. 
 
 In the passage of these waters through the 
 mountains, they form numerous rapids, cascades 
 and cataracts, which present, some of the most 
 wild, romantic and picturesque scenery of which 
 the country can boast. 
 
 These mountains comprise the primitive region 
 in this county. The rock formations which com-
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 53 
 
 pose the regular constituent parts of these eleVa- 
 ted ridges consist of the following : 
 
 Granite. 
 
 Sienite. 
 
 Gneiss. 
 
 Mica Slate. 
 
 Steatite. 
 
 Granular Lime Stone. 
 
 Granite 
 
 Discovers itself in a number of places along 
 the whole extent of the Palriiertown range. It 
 rises to the top of some of the highest peaks of 
 the mountain near where the Hudson crosses it, 
 and is again met with in some of the vallies. At 
 the southern termination of this mountainous 
 range, in the immediate vicinity of the transition 
 formation, and within a mile of the mineral waters 
 at Saratoga Springs, there is an extensive mass of 
 granite considerably elevated and lying across 
 the course of the mountain nearly east and west. 
 The surface of this range of granite is exposed for 
 the distance of more than a mile, and it is the last 
 of the primitive rocks which make their appear- 
 ance in this direction until . we reach the High- 
 lands below New burgh, a distance of more than 
 one hundred miles, where they again occur, and 
 the appearance seems to justify the opinion that 
 
 E*
 
 54 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 they constitute a part of the same range. Such- 
 is the situation of the valley or basin between 
 these two distant points, that the Highlands may 
 be distinctly seen over it, on a clear day, from 
 almost any point on the last mentioned range of 
 granite at Saratoga Springs., 
 
 On the west side of the mountain, where the 
 land slopes off towards the Kayaderosseras, gran- 
 ite frequently presents itself in extensive ridges, 
 sometimes exhibiting its own well denned surface, 
 and sometimes supporting masses of sienite or 
 gneiss, which run into each other; and in this 
 manner it likewise combines with mica slate, and 
 although each rock is distinctly marked, yef they 
 are so intimately combined at their union as to 
 render it difficult to determine the exact line of 
 their meeting. 
 
 On the Kayaderosseras mountains the granite 
 discovers itself towards their southern termination 
 and along their highest ridges. It is very con- 
 spicuous along the slope of the mountains on their 
 western sides in the town of Providence. It like- 
 wise breaks through the gneiss, or rises above it 
 in several places in the precipitous parts of the 
 mountains on their eastern aspect in the towns of 
 Greenfield, Corinth and Hadley.
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 55 
 
 In the town of Day, on the north side of the 
 Sacandaga river, and not far from the road lead- 
 ing through the mountain along the valley of the 
 river from Hadley to Edinburgh, there is an ex- 
 tensive range of beautiful flesh coloured granite. 
 It rises through the gneiss which lies on both sides 
 of it, and occupying a direction nearly southwest 
 and northeast, may be traced a distance of some 
 miles. It consists almost entirely of feldspar in a 
 highly crystalline state, and contains some nodules 
 of quartz and rarely some small specimens of 
 mica, 
 
 Most of the granite which occurs in this region 
 is of a coarse granular structure, having its usual 
 constituents variously combined. Sometimes it 
 consists almost entirely of feldspar and quartz. 
 In some specimens the mica is in excess, and in 
 others the mica and quartz are scarcely discover- 
 able, and frequently all three are so intimately 
 combined as to make it difficult to determine 
 wlu'cli is in excess. 
 
 Sometimes the granite occurs in veins passing 
 through gneiss, in which case it is highly crystal- 
 line, and its constituent parts may be easily sepa- 
 rated, oftco with a single blow of the hammer.
 
 56 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 Gneiss. 
 
 This constitutes by far the greater proportion of 
 the primitive rocks in this region. It composes 
 almost the whole of the eastern face of the Falm- 
 ertown mountains, except being occasionally in- 
 terrupted by the granite. It extends to the west 
 along the slope of those mountains to within a 
 mile of the Kayaderosseras ; and these last moun- 
 tains are almost entirely composed of it. Where 
 the Sacandaga river crosses this range, the moun- 
 tains, which are several hundred feet in height, 
 particularly on the north side, approach it in 
 frightful precipices, which are entirely composed 
 of this rock. 
 
 it is usually found resting on granite ; but in 
 some places it is observed to alternate with sien- 
 ite, but more frequently with mica slate. It dif- 
 fers much in its composition ; being in some 
 instances composed almost entirely of mica and 
 quartz, and in others of mica, quartz, feldspar 
 and hornblend. Sometimes the feldspar is want- 
 ing altogether, and sometimes the mica is deficient. 
 They are all in fine particles- and much diffused 
 in the mass. 
 
 Sienite, or Hornblend Rock, 
 
 Occurs in several places along the western 
 declivity of the Palmertown mountains, and along
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 57 
 
 the southern termination of the Kayaderosseras 
 mountains in the town of Providence. It is ob- 
 served in other places combined with gneiss or 
 alternating with mica slate. It does not, how- 
 ever, appear to occupy a very extensive space in 
 the formation of this region. 
 
 Mica Slate. 
 
 This rock occurs near and along the southern 
 termination of the primitive region in the town of 
 Greenfield. A little below Fitch's mills it forms 
 a distinct stratification, and along the mountains 
 to the north and northeast it rests on the gneiss, 
 and is observed to form veins or seams in several 
 places in the granite. It exhibits fragments of 
 an extensive stratification both on the Palmer- 
 town and Kayaderosseras mountains. 
 
 Steatite, Soap-Storie, or Talcosc Hock, 
 
 Occurs at or near the foot of the Pahnertown 
 mountains in the town of Moreau ; it occurs 
 likewise near the top of the mountain in the town 
 of Corinth, and again in the town of Greenfield. 
 They all appear to be of the same description 
 and evidently belong to the variety termed pot- 
 stone. The locality in Moreau appears to be 
 extensive. It is covered by granular limestone, 
 through a fissure of which, the specimens which
 
 58 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 I have were procured. I have several other 
 specimens which I strongly suspect came from 
 one of the above localities, although they were 
 represented to me as coming from another quar- 
 ter. They were procured by some infatuated 
 money diggers, and they were exhibited under a 
 pretence or belief that they contained the pre- 
 cious metals. 
 
 Granular Limestone. 
 
 This occurs in the immediate vicinity of the 
 foregoing formation, and appears to rest upon it. 
 It enters largely into the formation of the Palmer- 
 town mountain at a place about two miles north 
 from its southern termination. All which I have- 
 examined is of a coarse granular structure, and 
 in its general character and appearance strongly 
 resembles the Bennington and Shaftsbury mar- 
 bles. It is easily worked, and when pure receives 
 a fine polish. Most of the specimens, however, 
 contain crystals of feldspar diffused throughout 
 the mass in such abundance as to render it in a 
 great measure unfit for the operations of the 
 chisel. It is probable, nevertheless, that when 
 those localities come to be properly explored, 
 specimens sufficiently pure may be procured for 
 ail the useful purposes to which marble is 
 applied.
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 59 
 
 Every thing conspires to induce the belief that 
 these primitive regions have undergone great and 
 important changes since the period of their 
 formation. Fragments ..pf these rocks, exactly 
 corresponding \vith those in place, are strewed in 
 immense quantities all over the county in the form 
 of sand, water- worn pebbles, rounded stones and 
 bowlders, specimens of which, weighing many 
 tons, are found at the distance of some miles 
 from their parent rock resting on earth which 
 covers secondary limestone. 
 
 The minerals which have been observed con- 
 nected with the primitive formation of this region, 
 are tourmaline, garnets, beryl, sulplmret of mo- 
 lybdena, graphite, spodumenc, iron in the form of 
 magnetic hematite and sulphurct, chrysobcryl,* 
 prismatic and laminated mica, coccolite, &c. 
 
 Transition Formation. 
 
 The rocks which are distinctly marked as be- 
 longing to this class in this region arc 
 
 Padding Stone, or Conglomerate. 
 Quartzose. or Coarse Siliceous Sand Stone. 
 
 ' Tiii-5 raro mineral occurs in veins of granite running through 
 gneiss in two or tlircr: places, from which some beautiful speci- 
 mens have been obtained.
 
 60 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 Metalliferous, or Mountain Lime Stone. 
 Argillagceous Slate. 
 Gray Wacke and Gray Wacke Slate. 
 Siliceous and Calcareous Sand Stone. 
 
 Pudding Stone.* 
 
 This formation occurs in the town of Green- 
 field, not far from its south line, on the southeast 
 side of the Kayaderosseras mountain, distinctly 
 resting on the primitive- rocks. It consists prin- 
 cipally of rounded pebbles of quartz, from the 
 size of a small shot to that of a man's head, and 
 larger, united into one common mass" by a kind 
 of coarse ferruginous sand. The rounded masses 
 which characterize this formation are much the 
 largest at its conimencement, or where it unites 
 with the primitive rocks, and they regularly de- 
 crease in size as we climb up the series, until it 
 passes into a uniform quartzose, or coarse silice- 
 ous sand stone, which overlays or alternates with 
 it over a considerable extent of this part of the 
 county. Broken rounded fragments of this for* 
 mation are found all over the county, and in 
 
 * This formation, with the succeeding one, answers well tt> 
 the description given by Eaton, of the millstone-grit of the canal 
 district; but its situation here peremptorily forbids Us being 
 placed among the secondary rocks.
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. ' Cl 
 
 jreat abundance along the valley between the 
 Palmertown and Kayaderosseras mountains. 
 
 Quart-osc or Coarse Siliceous Sand Stone. 
 
 This formation occupies an extensive space 
 along the valley between the Palmertown and 
 Kayaderosseras mountains, and is found along 
 the eastern declivity of the latter mountain, near 
 its southern termination, in thin and horizontal 
 strata, in some places akernating with conglome- 
 rate or passing into it. Near the foot of the 
 mountain it inclines a little to the southeast, and 
 disappears beneath more recent formations. 
 
 This formation is generally of a reddish brown 
 color, particularly where the surface has been 
 exposed to the weather. It is, however, fre- 
 quently white or greyish white ; and at or near 
 I be falls on the Hudson at Hadley, it passes into 
 and alternates with a kind of rubblestone of a 
 blueish cast, which slightly effervesces with acids 
 and sometimes contains calcareous spar.* 
 
 * Profc.-sor F.atou ha8 described this formation as bcin; 1 , 
 I'naiitiv", and im-ntioris the occurrence of an intervening stra- 
 ';rn of i'i[.idii>^ stone as a remarkable circumstance. I orict: 
 .at'.T'.aincd tin: -rune- o|.i':i'jn, Init a more careful investigation 
 ! ,i~ put il !i"V'.':i'l a <]'!. 'it rliat tiiisr is a transHi/jii formation, 
 I'-cupytrr..' !!i; !)':U'ji:j of .1 '-ahin foruifd !;v the sarnjundin.i; 
 'li'.'i'li .'o iu'''iri:,u i -'.
 
 62 ' GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 Metalliferous, or Mountain Lime Roc'k. 
 
 This formation occurs in the town of Green- 
 field, on an elevated ridge of land in the valley 
 between the Palmertown and Kayaderosseras 
 mountains, and evidently reposes on the foregoing 
 sand stone. This locality is not very extensive, 
 and I am not aware of its occurring at any other 
 place, although it very probably may, along the 
 course of the same valley which occupies the 
 space between those primitive spurs for nearly 
 twenty miles. 
 
 Argillaceous Slate. 
 
 This formation appears to underlay the greater 
 part of the county that is not included in the 
 primitive region. It forms the bed of the Hudson 
 to a little above Baker's Falls, opposite Moreau, 
 and that rf the Mohawk to above Schenectady. 
 It is likewise observable in the interior of the 
 county, at the bottom and along the shores of the 
 lakes, both at Saratoga and Ballston ; and it 
 forms the shores or banks of most of the streams 
 that pass to the southward of the secondary for- 
 ma' ion, but it has not yet been observed to make 
 its appearance between this last and the primitive 
 rocks.
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 11 63 
 
 The layers of this rock are much curved, par- 
 ticularly along the southern parts of the county, 
 and possess a considerable elevation to the north- 
 west ; but as it approaches towards the seconda- 
 ry rock, to the north, its layers become straight, 
 are evidently less inclined, and separate into thin 
 plates, some of which appear suitable for roof 
 slate. The seams and fissures of these layers 
 are frequently filled with calcareous' spar ; and 
 at Baker's Falls large masses of this substance 
 are imbedded in the rock. It is extremely liable 
 to disintegration where the surface is exposed ; 
 and in many places it breaks into regular rhoni- 
 bick tables, whose fracture is always parallel to 
 their sides, evincing a crystalline character. 
 
 Some specimens of this rock are glazed with 
 black lead, which when handled soils the fingers; 
 and from this circumstance, some inexperienced 
 geologists have mistaken it for bituminous shale, 
 a substance which probably will not be found in 
 this district. 
 
 Large masses of chlorite, milky quartz, and 
 sometimes red jasper, arc likewise found, citiier 
 imbedded in this formation or passing through it 
 in the form of veins; and the sulphuret of iron, 
 in beautiful golden colored crystals of various 
 forms, occurs in great abundance, either in scams
 
 64 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS* 
 
 or imbedded in its substance. The decomposi- 
 tion of this latter substance probably gives origin 
 to the sulphurous waters which are found in this- 
 region, and likewise to the efflorescence so often 
 met with on the sides and walls of this rock. 
 This efflorescence is either the sulphate of iron t 
 lime or alumine, and sometimes consists of al 1 
 three. 
 
 Siliceous slate appears to be imbedded in the 
 argillite, rather than forming a separate stratum. 
 It is of a black flint like appearance, possessing a 
 concoidal fracture, and has a dark shining as- 
 pect. It occurs in large irregular masses in the 
 argillaceous slate on the egst side of Saratoga 
 lake, and likewise along the southern parts of the 
 sounty 
 
 Gray-Wackc. 
 
 Wherever this rock is found in this region, ir 
 rests on the argillaceous slate, and in some places 
 is observed to alternate with it. It forms the sum- 
 mit of most of the insolated elevations through- 
 out the southern parts of the country. It occu- 
 pies a considerable space along the highlands 
 which run parallel to the Hudson through the 
 t- r 'wns of Saratoga and Stillwatcr, and enters 
 largely into the composition of Bemus' Heights,
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 65 
 
 It is observable again along the southern parts of 
 Ballson and Charlton, where it runs into, and al- 
 ternates with gray-wacke slate. This last cullers 
 but little from the former, excepting it is more 
 slaty in its structure. Along the east side of Sar- 
 atoga Lake, and at several other places, they 
 have a considerable declination to the southeast ; 
 but in Charlton their position is nearly horizontal. 
 In some places the strata of this formation r.re 
 curiously contorted and bent, furnishing interest- 
 ing views for the speculations of the scientific ge- 
 ologist. 
 
 Siliceous and Calcareous SanJ Stone, 
 
 These rocks occur all along the eastern uud 
 squthern termination of the primitive region, vviui 
 which in many places they appear to come near- 
 ly in contact. They appear in the banks of tlio 
 Hudson a little below Glen's Falls, and they ai'o 
 very conspicuous along the south part of the tov/n 
 of Greenfield at the foot of the Kayadcrossorus, 
 when they pursue the course of that primitive 
 tract to its southern termination in the town of 
 Galvvay. They then take a western cour.se mio 
 the count}' of Montgomery. In Greenfield and 
 Corinth this formation occupies a narrow spaco 
 along the eastern foot of the Kayaderossei as 
 mountain for the distance of several miles ; aud 
 the same formation occurs again on its opposite 
 r"
 
 66 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 side, along the foot of the Sacandaga mountains, 
 and it is of this stone that the piers of the elegant 
 state bridge over the Sacandaga river near the 
 Fish House are constructed. Indeed, some of 
 the rocks at this place approach very nearly to 
 compact lime-stone, and contain organic remains. 
 
 Horn stone is found in great abundance im- 
 bedded in the calcareous sand stone ; and calca- 
 reous spar, beautifully crystalized and possessing 
 a variety of colors, occurs in both. Some of 
 these rocks contain in their fissure* and cavities 
 beautiful and veiy perfect six sided crystals of 
 quartz. These occur in great abundance among 
 the calcareous sand stones in the vicinity of the 
 mineral springs at Saratoga, and arc presented to 
 the curious under the appellation of diamonds, 
 Some small specimens of these crystals have been 
 found in the loose earth about these rocks, having 
 regular sides, with both terminations entire, and 
 possessing a brilliancy but little inferior to the 
 diamond itself, 
 
 The siliceous sand stone in some places seems 
 to pass into a kind of amygdaloidal rock, which 
 effervesces but slightly with acids. Its cavities, 
 which arc numerous, are lined with chalcedony. 
 This frequently occupies the whole space, but 
 sometimes forms gcodcs, the insides of which are
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. G7 
 
 studded with small brilliant crystals of quartz, or 
 a variety of crystalized spar. The walls of these 
 gcodes not unfrequently pass into agate, exhibiting 
 its zigzag parallel lines very distinctly. 
 
 Most of the calcareous and siliceous sand stone 
 of tliis region are easily wrought, and they bear 
 the effects of a high temperature well ; they are 
 therefore used in Galvvay for the backs and 
 jambs to chimneys. They have been likewise 
 extensively quarried in Greenfield for the con- 
 struction of tlie locks on the northern canal ; and 
 at Saratoga Springs they are used altogether for 
 the foundations of buildings. 
 
 Secondary Formation. 
 
 The rocks which compose the regular scries of 
 thL= formation are 
 
 Compact Lirne-st'one, 
 Shell Lime-stone, and 
 Oolite, 
 
 This lime-stone formation passes into the coun- 
 ty at Glen's Falls, and pursuing a southwesterly 
 direction, occupies a narrow space along the 
 course of the primitive region, and not far from it 
 through the towns of Morcau, Wilton, Saratogr.
 
 68 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 Springs, Milton, Galway, and so into the county 
 of Montgomery. 
 
 The connection of this formation with the tran- 
 sition rocks is very obvious at a little distance be- 
 low Glen's Falls, where it is first observed to al- 
 ternate with calcareous and siliceous sand stone, 
 and following the stream still further down, these 
 last rocks alternate with gray-wacke and gray- 
 wacke slate, which finally rest on the argillaceous 
 slate, not far above Baker's Falls, in the town of 
 Moreau. 
 
 Both the compact and shell lime-stone occur 
 in the same series of strata, constituting distinct 
 layers, which overlay each other at irregular in- 
 tervals. They are of a dark blue color, and the 
 compact is susceptible of a fine polish, and is 
 used for ornamental work of various kinds. 
 Both, \vhen properly burned, form a very pure 
 lime, giving out when first heated, a strong sul- 
 phurous odour. 
 
 The shell lime-stone differs very materially 
 from the compact, being more loose in its texture, 
 and consisting nearly altogether of organic re- 
 mains, the forms of which are perfect and entire ; 
 among which have been recognized celleporites, 
 pectenites, orthoceratites, amonites, cardites, gry-
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. CJ> 
 
 phites, corallinites, terebratulites. ostryatites. and 
 belemnites. 
 
 Oolite. 
 
 This formation had not been known as consti- 
 tuting a part of the regular series of rocks in the 
 United States until it was discovered in this coun- 
 ty. It occurs at a place about two miles north 
 west from the village of Saratoga Spring?, and 
 within half a mile of the ridge of granite rocks 
 which terminate the southernmost point t ft he- 
 Pal inert own mountains. From this spot it stretch- 
 es across the valley which separates the Palmer- 
 town from the Kayaderosseras mountains, and 
 probably may yet be traced around the termina- 
 tion of the latter mountains to those of the Sacan- 
 daga, and possibly along the whole extent of 
 these primitive spurs of what professor Eaton has 
 termed " the M'Comb Mountains." 
 
 The calcareous concretions which characterize 
 and identify this formation, arc for the most part 
 arranged in successive layers throughout the stra- 
 ta in which they appear. They arc globular, of 
 the size of mustard seed, possess a shining black 
 color, and are evidently composed of concentric 
 layers. They are united in the mass by a ealc-r-
 
 70 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 reous cement, more or less granular, combined 
 with fine siliceous sand. 
 
 More than one half of the whole mass of some 
 of the strata which constitute the series* of this 
 formation, consist of these globular concretions ; 
 in others they are more sparingly diffused, and 
 some of the strata appear to be composed alto- 
 gether of a calcareo-siliceous sand, without the 
 intervention of a single globule. They are most- 
 ly of a dark gray color, but they are in many 
 
 i^ / * v 
 
 places rendered brown by the intervention of fer- 
 ruginous particles. 
 
 From a cursory examination, at the time this 
 formation was first observed, I was induced to 
 believe that it rested on the transition rocks ; but 
 a more careful investigation has satisfied me that 
 it rests on secondary or shell lime-stone. This 
 lime-stone differs somewhat from that which I 
 have before described ; it is of a lighter color, 
 less compact in its structure, the organic remains 
 are more equally diffused throughout the strata, 
 which are thinner, and are frequently separated 
 by thin layers of aluminous slate, which, in some 
 places, is nearly identified with the lime-stone. 
 Can this be the lias of the European geologists ? 
 and is this shale the lias day which in England is 
 known to be impregnated with muriate of soda
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 71 
 
 and other salts ? and the same in which the min- 
 eral springs at Cheltenham and Gloucester are 
 said to rise ? If it should be so, we shall find 
 but little difficulty in accounting for the origin of 
 some o/ the salina ingredients found in the mineral 
 waters at Saratoga ; but it must be left to further 
 investigation to determine this subject. 
 
 Diluvial and Alluvial Formations. 
 
 Diluvial and alluvial deposits cover a great 
 proportion of the secondary and transition rocks 
 throughout the county, in the form of thick beds 
 of sand and clay and fragments of rocks more or 
 less rounded by attrition. 
 
 The diluvial includes generally all those lands 
 that are usually termed pine plains, extending from 
 the northern to the southern limits of the county, 
 forming a part of a range which follows the course 
 of the Hudson for more than four hundred miles 
 between the primitive mountains. 
 
 But little is as yet known of the depth or interior 
 properties of this immense body of earth. It has 
 seldom been opened to any extent but for the 
 purposes of obtaining water, which is usually found 
 at a depth of from ten to twenty-five feet, in a 
 coarse loose sand resting on aluminous marl, or 
 between this first stratum and another at no great 
 distance beneath. When water is found to occur
 
 72 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 
 
 over the marl, it is usually very pure, combines 
 readily with soap, and is what, in common lan- 
 ."uaf e. is termed soft ; but when it occurs be- 
 
 O O ' / ' 
 
 tween the strata of marl, it possesses properties 
 which give it the appellation of hard ; it decom- 
 poses soap without forming a pure suds, and con- 
 tains lime, magnesia, &c. usually combined with 
 sulphuric or muriatic acid. 
 
 Wherever this formation has been exposed to 
 any considerable depth, it presents a stratified 
 structure consisting of regular and well defined 
 strata of different colored sand or earth, or coarse 
 and fine gravel regularly arranged. Sometimes 
 these strata are separated by thin layers of marl 
 or clay, and sometimes by the argillaceous oxide 
 of iron. They are horizontal, inclined or undu- 
 lating at different places. 
 
 Marl appears to underlay or form a constituent 
 part of almost the whole of the diluvial deposits 
 of this county ; it is mostly argillaceous, but some 
 specimens contain from forty to sixty per cent, of 
 lime, and are evidently calcareous. 
 
 Argillaceous oxide of iron (bog ore) occurs in 
 a number of places, imbedded in the sandy dilu- 
 vial. On the plains between Saratoga arid Ball- 
 oon Spa, it was formerly found in iuincient quan-
 
 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS 73 
 
 lilies to supply a forge for a number of years, 
 \vhich produced from fifty to seventy tons cf 
 wrought or bar iron annually. 
 
 The alluvial formation is found along the banks 
 of streams and at the bottoms of vallies ; it con- 
 sists of beds of clay or marl, interrupted at inter- 
 vals by layers of quicksand, and sometimes by 
 that of vegetable remains. 
 
 O 
 
 Every thing in this extensive region of diluvial 
 and alluvial deposits conspire to induce the belief 
 that it once formed the bottom of an immense 
 fresh water lake, which must have existed subse- 
 quent to the retiring of the oceanic water?, in 
 which were deposited the lime and other secon- 
 dary rocks which contain the remains of marine 
 animals in such abundance : but as the discussion 
 of this subject is not necessarily connected with 
 the object of the work before us, it is deemed in- 
 expedient to pursue it any further at this time, 
 
 Having thus given a concise account of the dis- 
 covery and settlement of the Springs, and a gene- 
 ral view of the geological features of the country 
 in which they are situated, (preliminaries interest- 
 ing and important,) I shall now proceed to an 
 examination into ih<: character and propcrt'ir- >' 
 the waters.
 
 EXAMINATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MINERAL, WATERS. 
 
 Srcii is the solvent power of water, that it is 
 seldom, if ever, found perfectly pure or free from 
 foreign ingredients. Rain and snow water, when 
 collected in the open country, remote from towns 
 or villages, and immediately after their descent, 
 are the most pure of any used for domestic pur- 
 poses ; but even these are not entirely free from 
 impurities. 
 
 The waters of springs, wells, rivers, lakes and 
 ponds are still more impure, owing to their con- 
 taining a larger proportion of foreign substances 
 in solution or in a state of suspension ; but it is 
 seldom that these contain sufficient quantities to 
 render them altogether unfit for domestic uses ; 
 when this does happen, they arc styled MINERAL 
 
 WATERS. 
 
 Mineral waters are those which contain so large 
 a proportion of foreign matter as to render them 
 unfit for culinarv or other domestic uses. Thev
 
 76 EXAMINATION OF THE WATERS. 
 
 possess a distinguishing flavor, and when taken- 
 into the stomach produce distinct medicinal effects. 
 They have been, for the conveniency of descrip- 
 tion, divided into distinct classes, each class re- 
 ceiving an appropriate name from the prominent 
 character given to the water by the articles held 
 in solution. Hence we have 
 
 Acidulous waters, those which contain so large 
 a proportion of carbonic acid as to give them a 
 distinguishing character ; 
 
 Chalybeate waters, containing iron in some of 
 its soluble combinations ; 
 
 Saline waters, those which contain one or more 
 of the saline purging salts ; 
 
 Sulphureous waters, those which contain sul- 
 phuretted hydrogen either in a combined or un- 
 combined state. 
 
 It not unfrequently happens that the same foun- 
 tain contains all the foregoing distinguishing in- 
 gredients, particularly the three first, in which case 
 it is styled an ACIDULOUS SALINE CHALYBEATE 
 WATER. To this class belong the famous mineral 
 waters of Saratoga.
 
 EXAMINATION OP THE WATERS. 77 
 
 These celebrated waters occur along the 
 southern termination of the secondary, and in the 
 immediate vicinity of the transition formation. 
 They are scattered along a line running nearly 
 east and west, for the distance of about twenty 
 miles. At Ballston Spa there are a number of 
 these springs, some of which make their appear- 
 ance at the surface through alluvial deposits of 
 plastic clay, or marl and sand, while others have 
 been obtained by boring to a considerable depth 
 in the transition slate which here forms the basis 
 on which rests the alluvial deposits. Between 
 this place and the village of Saratoga Springs, 
 there are several of these fountains of less note 
 situated both in the transition and secondary for- 
 mations. At Saratoga Springs they are more 
 numerous, and diversified in their sensible quali- 
 ties, than at any other place. They discover 
 themselves, in great numbers, for the distance of 
 more than a mile along the valley, in marl, which 
 re.sts on secondary lime-stone. They occur again 
 in the southeast part of the old town of Saratoga, 
 at a place called the Quaker Springs. The rock 
 formation at this place is transition slate. 
 
 All the waters of these numerous fountains ap- 
 pear to possess the same or nearly the same <[ual-
 
 78 EXAMINATION OP THE WATERS, 
 
 ities, differing in their medicinal properties only, 
 in the quantities of the articles which are held in 
 solution. 
 
 I shall now proceed to a separate and distinct 
 examination of all those fountains which have 
 excited attention either from their notoriety, or 
 their sensible qualities ; and I commence with 
 the Congress Spring.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 THIS truly celebrated fountain is situated on 
 the west side of a narrow strip of low marshy 
 ground, close to the foot of a beautiful little cas- 
 cade, formed by a small limpid stream which 
 bursts from the earth only about fifty yards west- 
 erly from the spot. The spring was first discov- 
 ered, as heretofore stated, during the summer of 
 1792.* At that time the water made its appear- 
 ance through a small aperture in the side of a cal- 
 careous rock, whose margin formed the border 
 of the brook. Here it was caught in tumblers as 
 it issued from the rock in a small stream, and this 
 formed the only resource for obtaining the water 
 for several years after its discovery ; but the 
 quantity afforded was found altogether insuffi- 
 cient, even at that early period of its use, to 
 satisfy the demands of its visitants ; it therefore 
 
 * John Taylor Gilman, who has since been governor of the 
 state of New-Hampshire, and a brother of his, were in company 
 when this spring was fir.st noticed, but it is not now certainly 
 known which of Uie two first discovered it.
 
 80 DESCRIPTION OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 became desirable to obtain a larger quantity, and 
 with a view to effect this object, some efforts 
 were made which unfortunately resulted in com- 
 pletely obstructing the passage of the water, and 
 for a time the spring was supposed to be irre- 
 trievably lost, 
 
 Not long after this accident, Mr. Putnam, a 
 gentleman whose name I have already had occa- 
 sion to mention, who then resided near the spot, 
 and who ranked among the most enterprizing of 
 the early settlers, observed bubbles of gas break- 
 ing through the water in the middle of the brook, 
 a few feet south and east from the site of the 
 former fountain. Governed by the hope of be- 
 ing able to recover the original fountain, he turn- 
 ed the stream from its course, and having exca- 
 vated the earth to the depth of about eight feet, 
 discovered a strong mineral water rising in vari- 
 ous places through a very hard and compact 
 stratum of indurated marl imbedded with round- 
 ed pebbles and coarse gravel. He prepared a 
 square tube made of strong plank, about ten 
 inches in diameter, and of sufficient length to 
 reach from the bottom of the excavation to a 
 little above the surface ; this he placed upright 
 in the well, and. having adjusted the lower end so 
 as to include a number of these separate little 
 fountains, replaced the earth firmly around it, and
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE SPRINGS. 81 
 
 thus secured to posterity the possession of a min- 
 eral water which, for its peculiar medicinal prop- 
 erties, stands unrivalled. 
 
 In this curb, which is perfectly tight, the water 
 rises to a few inches above the surface of the 
 brook, which still passes close to the spring, and 
 here it becomes stationary. A little below this 
 point, however, it is suffered to escape through a 
 small aperture made in the side of the curb for 
 the purpose. At this aperture, when the spring 
 is not disturbed, the water issues at the rate of 
 something less than a gallon per minute. The 
 quantity of water, however, which the fountain 
 affords, seems to be inexhaustible, for when the 
 pressure has been removed by lessening the col- 
 umn of water in the curb, as when it has been 
 rapidly dipped out, it rushes in with such rapidity 
 that it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to re- 
 move the whole contents of the well. 
 
 Physical Properties of tlie Water. 
 
 The surface of the well is constantly agitated 
 by the escape of gas in fine bubbles, giving the 
 appearance of simmering, not unlike that which 
 water exhibits just before the process of violent 
 ebullition iakes place.
 
 82 DESCRIPTION OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 When first dipped, the water is remarkably 
 limped and sparkling, and were it not for the 
 constant escape of gas in innumerable fine points, 
 it would be perfectly transparent. It however 
 becomes turbid after standing a short time ex- 
 posed to the air ; a delicate white pellicle forms 
 on its surface, which terminates in a reddish 
 brown sediment. This sediment is likewise ob- 
 servable in the well, being incrustated on the 
 walls of the curb and along the surface, over 
 which the water makes its egress to the adjoin- 
 ing brook. 
 
 Transparent glasses and bottles which have 
 been much used in the water, or in which the 
 water has been suffered to stand for any length 
 of time, become tarnished, and though carefully 
 washed, retain a strong iridescent stain. 
 
 Its saline and gaseous properties are very per- 
 ceptible to the palate, and to most persons not 
 offensive. When swallowed, its effects depend 
 in a great measure upon the state of the stomach 
 at the time of receiving it, and upon the quantity 
 drank. When taken, however, in a moderate 
 draught, by a person in tolerable health, the sen- 
 sation is seldom, if ever, unpleasant ; and to those 
 who are in the habitual use of it, particularly in 
 the hot season, it is a delightful beverage.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE SPRINGS. 83 
 
 Its most obvious effect, when taken into the 
 stomach as a medicine, is that of a cathartic and 
 diuretic. In most habits this effect is produced 
 by drinking from four to six half pints in the 
 morning before eating. Soon after taking it, the 
 person feels a sense of fullness about the stomach 
 and bowels, attended with frequent eructations of 
 fixed air, a slight giddiness of the head, and a sen- 
 sation bordering on a disposition to sleep. These 
 feelings, however, are soon removed by the copi- 
 ous discharges that almost immediately follow, 
 leaving the stomach with an increased appetite 
 for food, and a disposition for exercise unattended 
 with languor. 
 
 The respiration of all breathing animals is im- 
 mediately affected by coming in close contact 
 with the surface of this fountain. The gas which 
 issues from it is immediately fatal to the lives of 
 animals which happen to be immersed in it, and 
 even fishes and frogs survive but a short time 
 when placed in the water. 
 
 Flour, when made into a paste or dough with 
 the water fresh from the spring, and immediately 
 baked, forms a tolerably light bread while warm ; 
 but when cold, it becomes clammy and heavy like 
 unleavened bread. The water is much used by 
 the country people for making " hot cakes." The
 
 84 DESCRIPTION OF THE SPRINGS. 
 
 flour is mixed with the water and a quantity of 
 sour cream, and is. ready for baking as soon as 
 the ingredients are sufficiently ,kneeded together. 
 It forms a very palatable hot cake, and recom- 
 mends itself on account of the expedition with 
 which it is prepared. 
 
 Preliminary Observations. 
 
 The temperature of the water of this spring, as 
 shown by Fahrenheit's thermometer when im- 
 mersed in the bottom of the well, is 50 deg., and 
 it does not appear to suffer any sensible variation 
 either during the summer or winter months. At 
 a time when the thermometer in the open air 
 stood at 14 deg. below zero, and at another, when 
 it was 90 deg. above, the water at the bottom of 
 the well was still at 50 deg. 
 
 The specific gravity of the water at the tempe- 
 rature of GO deg., the barometer ranging at 29.5 
 inches, is 1009.7, pure water being one thousand. 
 Excessive wet, or long seasons of dry weather, 
 seem to produce a slight variation from this result ; 
 but repeated experiments, made at different peri- 
 ods and under various circumstances of season, 
 &c. for the space of more than twenty years, 
 have in no instance produced a deviation of more 
 than the 0.5 of a grain.
 
 INSCRIPTION OP THE SPRINGS. 85 
 
 A thin, transparent glass flask was filled with 
 the water fresh from the spring, a thermometer 
 was immersed in it, and the whole placed in a 
 sand bath, to which the heat was gradually ap- 
 plied. 
 
 At the temperature of 65 cleg., there was a 
 perceptible increase of air bubbles formed at the 
 bottom of the flask, and passing up in rapid suc- 
 cession through the water. 
 
 At 80 dcg. the water became much agitated 
 by the rapid disengagement of the gas, and its 
 transparency slightly affected by a faint milky 
 appearance. 
 
 At 100 dcg. the commotion in the water, from 
 the abundant escape of gas, continued to increase 
 as the temperature advanced, and the milkiness 
 became more conspicuous. 
 
 At 150 dog. the profusion of air bubbles con- 
 tinued, and there appeared a very delicate white 
 pellicle forming on the surface of the water, and 
 the turbidness assumed a brownish shade. 
 
 At 180 dcg. the air bubbles still continued to 
 escape in great abundance, and the pellicle ap- 
 peared broken arid began to be deposited, togeth- 
 ii
 
 86 DESCRIPTION OF THE SPRIXGS. 
 
 er with a light flaky powder, which accumulated 
 at the bottom of the flask. 
 
 At 200 deg. the water became less turbid, and 
 the escape of gas had nearly ceased. It was 
 then suffered to boil for the space of half an hour, 
 and then removed from the sand bath; and when 
 cold, it became nearly clear and exhibited an a- 
 bundance of a reddish brown sediment. It had 
 lost its pungent acid flavor, but was decidedly 
 more saline. 
 
 Experiments with Tests. 
 
 EXP. 1. Lime water, added in considerable 
 quantity, produced a milky turbidness, which ter- 
 minated in a pulverulent white precipitate. This 
 effect is not produced on water that has been 
 previously boiled. 
 
 EXP. 2. Tincture of litmus produced a light 
 red colour, when added to water just dipped from 
 the well. Litmus paper was likewise reddened by 
 plunging it into the water and retaining it there a 
 few minutes ; the blue colour of the litmus paper 
 was, however, restored on exposing it for a few 
 minutes to the air, or on drying it by the fire. 
 The water, after being boiled, had no effect on 
 the colour of litmus paper ; but strips of this pa-
 
 EXPERIMENTS WITH TEST*. 87 
 
 per, reddened with distilled vinegar and then 
 dipped into the water, had its blue colour re- 
 stored. 
 
 * 
 
 EXP. 3. Tincture of red cabbage produced a 
 beautiful green colour, and this was effected as 
 readily after the water had been boiled as before ; 
 the effect, however, was best displayed on water 
 that had been considerably concentrated by evap- 
 oration. 
 
 EXP. 4. Tincture of turmeric was converted 
 into an orange colour when added to a quantity 
 of the water, and when the water had been much 
 concentrated by boiling, it was irrfmediately con- 
 verted into a brick red. 
 
 EXP. 5. Tincture of nutgalls, dropped into the 
 water when taken recently from the spring, in- 
 stantly produced a light purple tinge, which be- 
 came much deeper after standing some time ex- 
 posed to the air. No such effect was produced 
 on water that had been previously boiled. 
 
 EXP. 0. Prussiate of potash produced a slight 
 green tinge, which, after standing some lime, be- 
 came axurc. This experiment succeeded best 
 when the water had been previously saturated 
 with sulphuric or muriatic acid; it then tennina-
 
 88 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 ted in producing a precipitate of Prussian blue. 
 On water that had been boiled, or suffered to 
 stand for some time exposed to the air, the prus- 
 siate of potash had no sensible effect. 
 
 EXP. 7. Muriate of barytes, after standing 
 some minutes mixed with the water fresh from 
 the fountain, produced a slight cloudiness, which 
 terminated in a white precipitate, which was en- 
 tirely dissolved with effervescence in muriatic 
 acid. When the water had been considerably 
 concentrated, the precipitate was formed much 
 more rapidly. 
 
 EXP. 8, Barytic water, when mixed with the 
 water considerably concentrated by boiling, pro- 
 duced a white precipitate, which, like that in Exp. 
 7, was entirely dissolved with effervescence in 
 muriatic acid. 
 
 EXP. 9. Oxalic acid produced an immediate 
 active effervescence, which was succeeded by a 
 dense white precipitate. 
 
 EXP. 10. Oxalate of ammonia produced an 
 immediate turbidness, which terminated in a copi- 
 ous white precipitate ; when applied to water that 
 had been boiled for some time, a slight change in. 
 its transparency only was produced,
 
 EXPERIMENTS WITH TESTS. 89 
 
 EXP. 11. Carbonate of ammonia, when added 
 in considerable quantities, produced a faint milky 
 turbidness ; but, on the addition of the phosphate 
 of soda, a copious white granular precipitate was 
 immediately formed. 
 
 EXP. 12. Pure ammonia produced an immedi- 
 ate change in the transparency of the water, which 
 was followed by a copious precipitate. 
 
 EXP. 13. Pure potash produced nearly" the 
 same effect. 
 
 EXP. 14. Sulphuric acid produced an instan- 
 taneous and very rapid effervescence, which re- 
 sulted in an abundant white precipitate. 
 
 EXP. 15. Nitric and muriatic acid produced a 
 similar disengagement of gas, but their effect was 
 not followed by a procipitate of any kind. 
 
 EXP. 10. Nitrate of silver produced a thick 
 cloud, which immediately collected into flakes and 
 fell to the bottom of th>; vessel in great abund- 
 ance. This effect was the same on water that 
 had been boiled as on that which had not. The 
 precipitate was of a white curdy appearance 
 when first produced, but soon became of a dark 
 muddy colour. This change of colour, however, 
 u*
 
 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 did not take place when the vessel containing 
 the mixture was kept excluded from the rays of 
 %ht. 
 
 EXP. 17. Muriate of platina produced no ef- 
 fect, either on water fresh from the fountain, or 
 en that which had been previously boiled ; but 
 by evaporating two gallons of the water by a 
 slow heat, until cubic crystals began to form, fil- 
 tering the remaining liquor and again evaporating 
 until its bulk was much reduced by the crystalli- 
 zation of its saline ingredients, and then adding a 
 small quantity of this test to the remaining solu- 
 tion, a very minute quantity of a bright yellow 
 precipitate was produced. 
 
 EXP. 18. Chlorine gas. To a portion of the 
 solution obtained from four gallons of water, in 
 the manner related in the foregoing experiment, 
 a quantity of chlorine gas was transmitted, which 
 immediately converted the liquid into a reddish 
 yellow colour. A small quantity of pure sulphu- 
 ric ether dissolved the coloring substance of the 
 solution, becoming itself of a hyacinth red tint ; 
 and this was again rendered colourless, by the ad- 
 dition of a drop or two of costic potash. 
 
 EXP. 19. A solution of starch was added to a 
 portion of the water, containing the soluble salts.
 
 INFERENCES. 91 
 
 evaporated until crystallization commenced ; to 
 this solution a few drops of dilute sulpuric acid 
 was added, which gave to the whole solution a 
 deep violet colour, which was destroyed by the 
 introduction of a stream of chlorine, 
 
 INFERENCES, 
 
 Drawn from the foregoing observations and ex- 
 periments. , 
 
 1st. That this fountain has its source at a great 
 depth in the earth, as is evinced from the regular- 
 ity of its temperature at various and extreme states 
 of the atmosphere, and from the circumstance 
 of its being but slightly affected by wet and dry 
 weather. 
 
 2d. That the water of this fountain retains its 
 original properties, or its medicinal qualities, the 
 same at least as they were twenty years ago, as is 
 evinced by the uniformity of its specific gravity 
 during that period, 
 
 3d. That it contains a large proportion of a gas- 
 eous material in a free and in a combined state, 
 as is made evident by the effects produced by the 
 application of heat.
 
 92 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 4th. That* the gas so copiously evolved from 
 the water is the carbonic acid or fixed air, as is 
 inferred from Exp. 1 and 2. 
 
 5th. That the water contains a carbonated al- 
 kali, agreeably to Exp. 3 and 4. 
 
 Gth. That oxide of iron forms one of the con- 
 stituent properties of the water, and that it is held 
 in solution by an excess of carbonic acid, agreea- 
 bly to Exp. 5 and 6. 
 
 7th. That it does not contain sulphuric acid un- 
 der any form or combination, as is evinced from 
 the action of muriate of barytcs and barytic water ; 
 the effect which these tests produce being refcri- 
 ble to their union with a carbonated alkaK. See 
 Exp. 7 and 8. 
 
 8th. That it contains carbonate of lime in abun- 
 dance, agreeably to Exp. 9 and 10. 
 
 9th. That it contains a large proportion of car- 
 bonate of magnesia, agreeably to Exp. 11. 
 
 10th. That the carbonates contained in the 
 water form a large proportion of the ingredi- 
 ents held in solution, agreeably to Exp. 12, 13, 
 14 and 15.
 
 INFERENCES. 95 
 
 llth. That it contains a large proportion of a 
 muriatic salt, agreeably to Exp. 16. 
 
 12th. That the carbonated alkali, evinced by 
 Exp. 3 and 4, is the carbonate of soda, as is made 
 evident by Exp. 17. This experiment, likewise, 
 indicates the presence of a minute quantity of the 
 vegetable alkali or potassa. 
 
 13th. That the water contains the newly dis- 
 covered elementary substance termed brome or 
 bromine, is made abundantly evident by Exp. 18. 
 
 14th. That iodine forms another of the constit- 
 uent properties of this interesting and truly distin- 
 guished water, is satisfactorily demonstrated by 
 Exp. .19. 
 
 Thus, then, we have certain indications, as far 
 as tests can be relied on, that the water of this 
 fountain holds the following substances in solu- 
 tion, viz. 
 
 Carbonic Acid, Muriatic Acid, 
 
 Soda, Potassa or Potash, 
 
 Iron, Bromine, and 
 
 Lirnc, Iodine. 
 Magnesia,
 
 94 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 It remains to investigate the manner in which 
 these substances are combined, and to determine 
 the proportions in which they enter into the com- 
 position of the water. 
 
 EXAMINATION OF TH* GASEOUS CONTENTS OF THE 
 WATER. 
 
 A quantity of the gas was procured in the fol- 
 lowing manner: A large bladder was prepared, 
 and to its mouth was secured a stopcock, to the 
 end of which was fitted the small aperture of a 
 large glass funnel. The funnel was inverted in 
 the spring, and as soon as it became filled with gas, 
 the stop cock attached to the bladder was applied, 
 and the bladder, which was dry and had been pre- 
 viously emptied by rolling, was now suffered to fill 
 with the gas as it escaped from the water. In 
 this way a sufficient quantity of the gas, for all 
 the purposes of experimenting, may readily be ob- 
 tained at any time. 
 
 A quantity of this gas was pressed from the 
 bladder into a tumbler, in which was immersed 
 a lighted taper, which was immediately extin- 
 guished. 
 
 A sprightly live mouse was confined in the bot- 
 tom of a glass which was filled with the gas, and 
 it expired in less ihan a minute.
 
 GASEOUS CONTENTS. 95 
 
 It was emptied from one glass to another, and 
 continued to occupy its station in the glasses for 
 some minutes, evincing its presence by continuing 
 to extinguish flame, occ. 
 
 A small quantity of the gas was pressed from 
 the bladder into a glass vessel containing a quan- 
 tity of pure transparent lime-water. It immedi- 
 ately became milky, and threw down a white pre- 
 cipitate, which dissolved in dilute muriatic acid 
 with a strong effervescence. 
 
 Litmus paper, a little moistened and immersed 
 in a glass containing the gas was immediately col- 
 oured red. but retained its florid- colour no longer 
 than it retained its moisture. 
 
 A quantity of the gas was passed up from the 
 bladder into a graduated glass jar, filled with and 
 inverted in a solution of costic potash. A largo 
 proportion of the gas was almost immediately ab- 
 sorbed by the solution, while a very s:.Kiil quantity 
 remained in the top of the jar apparently unaffect- 
 ed bv it. (In* was continued to be added to the 
 contents of the jar until its graduated sides indica- 
 ted a quantity often inches, which remained and 
 continued undissolved by the costic solution. To 
 test the properties of the remaining ton inches, a 
 piece of phosphorus was secured to the end of a 
 wire and passed up into the gas, and being brought
 
 *K> CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 close to the side of this jar, was ignited by the 
 cautious application of a heated iron to the out- 
 side. It burned for a moment with its usual bril- 
 liancy, but soon became dim and went out. It 
 was again lit, by the re-application of the hot iron, 
 but was extinguished in the same breath, and 
 could not again be rekindled, although it was 
 slightly fused by the application of the iron. The 
 gas in the jar was at first a little dilated, but after 
 being cooled to its former temperature, it was 
 found to have sustained a diminution of bulk to 
 the amount of about two inches, or one fifth of the 
 whole ; thus demonstrating that the gas, remain- 
 ing unaffected by the operation of the solution of 
 costic potash, was pure atmospheric air. 
 
 From the results of these experiments, then, we 
 are bound to infer that the gas which escapes in 
 such profusion from this spring consists simply of 
 the carbonic acid, with a small proportion of at- 
 mospheric air. To ascertain the proportions of 
 each, and the amount contained in a given quan- 
 tity of the water, the following method was adop- 
 ted : 
 
 A tin bottle or jar, of the capacity of two quarts 
 or 115.5 cubic inches, was procured, and its mouth 
 secured and rendered perfectly tight by the appli- 
 cation of a well adjusted stopcock ; to this was
 
 GASEOUS CONTENTS. 
 
 nicely fitted one end of a small flexible leaden 
 tube, about two feet in length, at the other end of 
 which was altached a capacious and well prepared 
 bladder. This jar was filled with the water to be 
 examined, at the spring, and the stopcock imme- 
 diately applied and secured. It was then placed 
 in a water bath, and the bladder connected with 
 the flexible tube being previously well emptied, 
 was suspended in a large glass vessel fitted for the 
 purpose, and filled with pure water of the tempe- 
 rature of GO deg. The tube having received a 
 proper curvature, was connected with the stop- 
 cock. Heat was now applied to the bath in which 
 the jar containing the water was placed, the valve 
 of the cock opened, and the gas suffered to escape 
 through the tube into the bladder, which, as it di- 
 lated, forced the water in which it was suspended 
 over into a glass jar prepared for its reception and 
 gauged to half inches. It is obvious that the 
 quantity of water remaining in the graduated jar 
 at the end of the process would indicate very 
 accurately the quantity of gas received in the 
 bladder. 
 
 This apparatus for determining the quantity of 
 gas contained in the water, aside from the mercu- 
 rial trough, is unquestionably the best that could 
 be adopted, and is in effect the same as that re- 
 commended by the late Sir Humphrey Davy in 
 
 i
 
 98 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 his analysis of soils. It however subjects the ex- 
 periment to the probability of some trifling inac- 
 curacies. It is obvious that the walls of the wet 
 bladder may absorb a small proportion of the car- 
 bonic acid, and thereby render the quantity ap- 
 parently less than what it really is ; and it is 
 equally certain that the quantity of atmospheric 
 air contained in the tube, together with the small 
 quantity remaining in the bladder, (for it cannot 
 be entirely excluded,) must add somewhat to the 
 quantity obtained. The difference, however, in 
 the result is too trifling to merit a serious consid- 
 eration. The reception of the gas over mercury 
 would unquestionably be attended with the great- 
 est degree of accuracy ; but the difficulty of pro- 
 curing a sufficient quantity of that article in the 
 country for the purpose of accurate experiments, 
 entirely precluded the possibility of having re- 
 course to that method. 
 
 With this apparatus, adjusted in the manner 
 just described, two quarts or 115.5 cubic inches 
 of the water of this spring afforded 159 inches of 
 gas, at the temperature of GO dcg. and a pressure 
 of the atmosphere, indicated by the mercury of 
 the barometer, standing at 29.5 inch. Of this 159 
 inches, 155.5 were absorbed by a solution of 
 caustic potash, leaving 3.5 inches on which the 
 solution had no effect. The proportion of the two
 
 GASEOUS CONTENTS. 99 
 
 gases, then, contained in two quarts of the water, 
 
 will stand thus : 
 
 Inch. 
 
 Carbonic acid gas, 155.5 
 
 Atmospheric air, 3.5 
 
 Amount contained in 2 qts. of water, 159.5 
 
 It is rendered more than probable, from the re- 
 sult of repeated experiments, that the quantity of 
 gas contained in a given quantity of the water is 
 not always exactly the same. The variation, 
 however, is never sufficient to produce any per- 
 ceptible difference in the sensible qualities of the 
 water, as it appears always to retain in combina- 
 tion considerably more than its bulk, besides a 
 considerable quantity of disengaged or free car- 
 bonic acid. The same quantity of water has af- 
 forded at different times, under exactly similar 
 states of temperature and pressure of the atmos- 
 phere, 150, 156, 159, 101 and 170 cubic inches. 
 From two quarts of the water that had been ex- 
 posed in an open vessel for twenty-four hours, in 
 a temperature of GO degrees, was obtained 1 12 
 cubic inches of gas. 
 
 It would therefore appear that the difference in 
 these results arises principally from \\\Q free car- 
 bonic acid diffused in the water, being in a greater 
 or less quantity, and nt from any deficiency or
 
 100 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 increase in that portion of the gas retained in it ia 
 a state of combination or solution. 
 
 The portion of free or uncombined gas must be 
 considerably affected by the frequent and violent 
 agitation of the water in the well, occasioned by 
 the process of dipping it out for use, and in filling 
 bottles for transportation ; and to this circum- 
 stance may be imputed the variations alluded to. 
 But it is not impossible that the quantity of tlie 
 gas extricated from the interior of the earth, un- 
 der various circumstances and at different times, 
 should become more or less abundant. 
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE SOLID CONTENTS OF THE 
 WATERS. 
 
 It has already been shown, by the application 
 of tests, &c. that some of the solid ingredients 
 which form a constituent part of the contents of 
 the water, are in such minute quantities as to re- 
 quire the evaporation of a large portion in order 
 to arrive at accurate results in estimating their 
 quantities, while others enter so liberally into its 
 composition as to be more readily and accurately 
 determined by separating them from a much less 
 quantity of the water. The following process 
 was adopted r
 
 SOLID CONTENTS. 101 
 
 A given quantity of the water was taken fresh 
 from the spring and placed in a clean porcelain 
 basin, and suffered to evaporate in a water bath 
 heated by a small lamp, and kept at a temperature 
 in no instance exceeding 160 deg. of Fahrenheit. 
 The basin was secured from the intrusion of for- 
 eign substances by a cover of two or three folds of 
 fine crape. In this manner it was suffered to dry 
 gradually away, until cubic crystals began to form 
 along the sides of the basin. It was then removed 
 from the bath, and, while warm, thrown upon a 
 filter, and the insoluble mass well washed with 
 hot recently distilled water, and then carefully re- 
 moved from the filter into a glass basin, which 
 was placed in a water bath, and its contents dried 
 in a temperature of 212 deg. In this way the 
 solid contents of the water were divided into two 
 parts, soluble and insoluble. 
 
 Ej:atninatioji of the soluble parts. 
 Two separate parcels of the soluble salts or 
 filtered solutions, each obtained from forty-five 
 cubic inches of the water, were subjected to the 
 following examination : 
 
 Parcel 1st was placed in a glass basin and 
 evaporated in a water bath to dry ness, at a low 
 temperature. The remaining crystallized mass 
 was finely pulverized in a glass mortar, and again
 
 102 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 dried at a temperature of 160 deg. for several' 
 hours. Over this dry saline residuum was poured 
 a small quantity of alcohol, of the specific gravity 
 of 0.815. After standing some time and being 
 frequently agitated, the whole was thrown on a 
 filter, and what remained on the paper, after be- 
 ing well washed by repeated applications of small 
 quantities of alcohol, was again dried and num- 
 bered 1. The alcoholic solution was evaporated 
 to dryness at a low temperature, and again digest- 
 ed in a much smaller quantity of alcohol, of the 
 same specific gravity as before. A few very mi- 
 nute cubic crystals remained undissolved by this 
 last portion of the alcohol. They consisted of the 
 muriate of soda, which had been taken up by the 
 larger portion of the alcohol used in the first 
 washing of the saline mass. They were transfer- 
 red to No. 1. The alcoholic solution was again 
 evaporated and dried, and weighed while warm 
 something more than 0.7 of a grain. This was 
 dissolved in a cold solution of starch, in a small 
 test tube, and a drop or two of dilute sulphuric 
 acid added. The whole immediately assumed a 
 deep purple tinge, which, on standing some time, 
 was precipitated with the starch, giving to it the 
 well known characteristic blue color afforded by 
 the presence of IODINE. A few bubbles of chlo- 
 rine gas were passed into the mixture. The blue 
 faded immediately and disappeared.
 
 SOLID CONTENTS. 103 
 
 An equal quantity of this salt, obtained from 
 the same quantity of the water and in the same 
 way, was dissolved in a fluid drachm of pure wa- 
 ter, to which a drop or two of the muriate of 
 platina was added. No indications of potash were 
 manifested ; the solution remained scarcely alter- 
 ed in its color, and no precipitate appeared,. 
 
 Iodine may exist in a mineral water in the state 
 of an iodic orhydriodic acid, combined with either 
 of the alkalies, potash or soda forming the iodate 
 or hydriodate of the alkali with which they are 
 united. The presence of potash is only indicated 
 in the water by experimenting on large portions ; 
 it is not satisfactorily indicated even in the residu- 
 um of a gallon, and not at all in that obtained 
 from forty-five cubic inches of the water, as has 
 just been shown. It follows, therefore, that soda 
 is the alkaline base which retains the acid in ques- 
 tion, forming the iodate or hydriodate of soda. 
 
 It has already been shown that alcohol dissolves 
 the whole of the substance which discovers the 
 presence of iodine ; and as iodate of soda is not 
 soluble in that mcnstrum, we are bound to infer 
 that the salt in question is the hydriodalc of soda. 
 
 The inconsidcrablcncss of this salt afforded by 
 the above quantity of the water not admitting of
 
 104 COXGRESS SPRING. 
 
 all the accuracy desirable in estimating the quan- 
 tity of so important an article, recourse was had 
 to another process ; the dry soluble salt obtained 
 from two gallons, or 4G2 cubic inches of the wa- 
 ter, was submitted to the action of alcohol with 
 the same precaution as before related, and from 
 this quantity was obtained a trifle over 7 grains. 
 It exhibited all the characteristic properties of the 
 hydriodate of soda already noticed, and in addi- 
 tion afforded evidences of containing a trace of 
 bromine and potash : substances, the character 
 and properties of which wjll be ipvestigated in 
 another paragraph. 
 
 These seven grains of the hydriodrate of soda, 
 together with several other smaller parcels of the 
 same salt obtained at different times from differ- 
 ent quantities of the water, were together placed 
 in a Florence flask and dissolved in an ounce or 
 two of pure water ; the flask was placed over a 
 spirit lamp, and as its contents became hot, a few 
 drops of sulphuric acid were added to the solu- 
 tion, when the well known purple fumes of iodine 
 appeared very conspicuous at the neck of the 
 flask, furnishing the most incontcstible evidence 
 of the presence of that substance. 
 
 Having thus finished the investigation relating 
 to the presence and quantity of iodine, the further
 
 SOLID CONTENTS. 105 
 
 separation of the soluble salts was resumed. The 
 mass numbered 1 of parcel I, which remained 
 after the action of the alcohol, was dissolved in 
 an ounce of pure water, and dilute acetic acid 
 added in small quantities at a time as long as 
 any effervescence was produced. The whole 
 was then dried at a low temperature, and again 
 digested in alcohol of the same specific gravity as 
 before ; it was filtered, and the filtered solution 
 evaporated, and a quantity of acetate of soda 
 procured. This was subjected to a low red heat, 
 in a platina capsule, the acetic acid was thus ex- 
 pelled, and the sub-carbonate of soda remained, 
 weighing 1.25 grains, equivalent to 1.75 grains of 
 the bi-carbonate ; in which state it probably 
 enters into the composition of the water. 
 
 The remaining saline substance was dissolved 
 in a quantity of pure water, in a suitable precipi- 
 tating glass, and to the clear solution was added 
 a solution of the nitrate of silver ; it was added 
 in small quantities at a time, as long as any tur- 
 bidness was produced. It was then filtered, 
 washed with repeated portions of distilled water, 
 and the precipitate carefully dried ; it afforded 
 182.5 grains of chloride of silver, equivalent to 
 75 grains of the chloride of sodium, or sea salt.
 
 10G CONGRESS SPRIXG. 
 
 In order to test the accuracy of the foregoing 
 results, parcel II, which had been reserved for 
 this purpose, was evaporated, its contents dried 
 and digested in alcohol, with the same precau- 
 tions as parcel I, and exactly the same quantity 
 of hyrdiodate of soda obtained. The remaining 
 salts were dissolved in two ounces of pure water, 
 and a solution of muriate of barytes added in 
 small portions, as long as any precipitate or dis- 
 coloration was produced. The precipitate was 
 now obtained on a filter, washed with pure 
 water, and carefully dried ; It weighed 2.3 grains. 
 It dissolved entire in dilute muriatic acid with 
 effervescence, and was rendered insoluble in 
 water by the addition of sulphuric acid. It was 
 therefore the carbonate of barytes, the muriate 
 of which had been decomposed ; the muriatic 
 acid of the barytes had united to the soda, form- 
 ing muriate of soda, while the carbonic acid of 
 the soda had united to the divorced barytes, 
 forming the insoluble salt, carbonate of barytes, 
 2.3 grains of which is equivalent to 1.25 grains of 
 the sub-carbonate of soda, or 1.75 of the bi-car- 
 bonate, as near as weights and scales can be sup- 
 posed to make it. 
 
 This result, corresponding so nearly with the 
 other, might give to this mode of separating the 
 carbonate of soda from the muriate the prefer-
 
 SOLID CONTENTS. 107 
 
 ence, provided the carbonate of magnesia be 
 present ; the muriate of barytes is not decom- 
 posed by that substance, but will remain in solu- 
 tion with the muriate of soda when the carbonate 
 of soda is all decomposed. The magnesia may 
 then be converted into a muriate by the addition 
 of dilute muriatic acid, the whole dried, and the 
 muriate of magnesia taken up by alcohol. This 
 process was adopted in the present instance, but 
 no muriate of magnesia was procured. It is to 
 be presumed, therefore, that the carbonate of 
 magnesia is not held In solution with the soluble 
 salts, at least not in sufficient quantity to be 
 appreciated. 
 
 The discovery of iodine and bromine in some 
 of the mineral springs of Europe led to the con- 
 jecture that they might be found to enter into the 
 composition of the waters of Saratoga, and this 
 conjecture was strengthened by the knowledge 
 of thc-ir great efficacy in the cure of a variety of 
 strumu.s affections, for which their known prop- 
 erties did not very .satisfactorily account. 
 
 Iodine was first delected in thei-'e waters in the 
 full of 1S528, and announced in 18:29, in the Amer- 
 ican Journal of Science ; and Mr. A. A. Hayes, 
 of New-Haven, delected bromine and potash.
 
 108 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 and announced the discovery in the same Journal 
 in July, 1830. 
 
 The spare quantity afforded by the water of 
 the two last substances, makes it necessary to 
 operate on a large portion in order to obtain de- 
 cisive evidence of their presence. Mr. Hayes 
 says that he obtained the knowledge of the fact 
 from " a portion of the dry saline matter left after 
 evaporating a large quantity of the water." It 
 has already been shown that their existence in a 
 gallon of the water is at least equivocal. 
 
 With a view to corroborate the result of the 
 experiments already noticed, the saline residuum 
 of four gallons, or 924 cubic inches of the water 
 was procured, effused in distilled water, filtered, 
 and the filtered solution evaporated by a slow 
 process, until a large portion of the muriate of 
 soda had crystallized ; the remaining liquor was 
 treated with chlorine gas, and then agitated with 
 a portion of pure sulphuric ether. On the addi- 
 tion of chlorine the liquid assumed an orange yel- 
 low color, which was all taken up by the ether, 
 which then became of a hyacinth or reddish 
 brown tint, arose to the surface, and formed a 
 perfect line of distinction in the liquid contents of 
 the glass ; the etherial solution was removed by 
 means of a glass syringe, and a drop or two of a
 
 SOLID CONTENTS. 10D 
 
 solution of caustic potash added to it, it immedi- 
 ately became colorless, and on suffering the solu- 
 tion to evaporate in a low temperature, a few 
 minute cubic crystals of the hydro-bromate of 
 potash were deposited. 
 
 Another portion of the salts produced from 
 four gallons of the water was obtained and pre- 
 pared as above by concentrating the solution of 
 the soluble salts, until nearly all the muriate of 
 soda was crystallized. To the clear yellowish 
 colored liquor which remained was added a few 
 drops of the muriate of platina. It produced an 
 immediate fine yellow colored precipitate, indica- 
 ting the presence of a small quantity of potash. 
 
 These experiments fully establish the existence 
 of bromine in this water. It is in the state of the 
 hydro-bromic acid united to potash, forming the 
 hydro-bromate of potash ; its quantity, however, 
 is extremely small, and can only be accurately 
 determined by more extensive and labored ope- 
 rations. 
 
 Examination of tlic Insoluble parts. 
 
 Having thus separated and determined the 
 quantities of the various ingredients soluble in 
 pure water, the .saline mass remaining on the fi!- 
 
 K
 
 110 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 ter, after the action of that fluid, was next sub- 
 mitted to examination. 
 
 The whole quantity of this substance obtained 
 from 45 cubic inches of the water was placed in 
 a Florence flask, and dilute nitric acid poured 
 over it as long as any effervescence was pro- 
 duced ; the acid was then added in slight excess, 
 and the flask placed over a spirit lamp, and its 
 contents suffered to boil for half an hour ; it was 
 then removed from the stand, and when cold, a 
 minute quantity of a grayish white powder was 
 observed in the bottom of the flask, which re- 
 mained undissolved by the operation of the dilute 
 acid ; this was separated from the clear solution 
 on a filter, and after being well washed, with dis- 
 tilled water, was dried at a low red heat in a 
 platina crucible. It produced a whitish colored 
 powder, of a rough dry feeling when rubbed be- 
 tween the fingers, and when fused with a little 
 carbonate of soda produced a greenish colored 
 glass. It was therefore pure silix. It weighed 
 as nearly as could be ascertained 0.25 grains. 
 
 The filtered solution was then placed in a pre- 
 cipitating glass, and a small quantity of a solution 
 of pure ammonia added ; it produced a brownish 
 coloured cloud in the clear solution, which, after 
 adding a sufficient quantity of the ammonia, sub-
 
 SOLID CONTENTS. Ill 
 
 sided to the bottom of the flask in the form of a 
 brown sediment. This was removed by filtering, 
 and, being well washed, was dried and brought 
 to a red heat in a platina crucible, and was then 
 again dissolved in dilute nitric acid, and again pre- 
 cipitated by ammonia, filtered, and the filtered so- 
 lution added to that of the previous process. 
 What remained on the filter was dried again at a 
 red heat, and was the pure red or per-oxide of 
 iron, and weighed about 0.75 of a grain. The 
 quantity, however, of this, as well as that of the 
 silix, will, for the sake of greater accuracy, be de- 
 termined from a larger portion of the water. 
 
 After thus separating the silix and iron, the re- 
 maining solution, consisting of the nitrate of lime 
 and magriesia, was transferred to a porcelain evap- 
 orating basin, and suffered to evaporate over a 
 moderate heat until crystals began to appear. 
 The nitrate was then converted into a sulphate, 
 by adding dilute sulphuric acid in excess, and 
 evaporating the new compound nearly to dryncss. 
 The residuum was then transferred to a platina 
 crucible, and gradually brought to a low red heat. 
 ^Vhat remained consisted purely of sulphate of 
 lime and magnesia, and weighed, while warm, 
 41.5 grains. To separate these two salts, a sat- 
 urated solution of sulphate of lime in distilled wa- 
 ter was used ; it dissolved the sulphate of magno
 
 112 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 sia, which was filtered from the remaining insolu- 
 ble sulphate of lime, and this last was again dried 
 at~a low red heat, and weighed while warm 24 
 grains, equivalent to 19.1 1 grains of the carbonate 
 of lime. 
 
 The sulphate of lime in solution with the sul- 
 phate of magnesia was separated by the oxalate 
 of ammonia, carefully added, the solution filtered, 
 evaporated, and the residual salt brought to a red 
 heat, and weighed while warm exactly 17.5 
 grains. It was the sulphate of magnesia, equiva- 
 lent to 12.25 grains of the carbonate of magnesia, 
 or 18.66 grains of the bi-carbonate. 
 
 To determine with more precision the actual 
 quantity of iron, one gallon of the water was evap- 
 orated, and the insoluble part of its residiuum ob- 
 tained by filtering, dissolved in dilute nitric acid, 
 and boiled for the space of half an hour in a Flor- 
 ence flask. The silix which remained undissol- 
 ved by the acid in the flask was separated, and, 
 after being subjected to a red heat, weighed while 
 warm 1.5 grains. The iron was then precipita- 
 ted by the addition of a solution of pure ammonia, 
 as before described, dried at a red heat, and then 
 re-dissolved in dilute nitric acid, to free it from 
 any impurities which might have been precipita- 
 ted along with it by the action of the caustic am- 
 monia in the first operation. It was aeain pre~
 
 SOLID CONTEXTS. 113 
 
 cipitated in the same way, dried at a red heat in 
 a platina crucible, and weighed while warm 3.5 
 grains. It was the red, or per-oxide of iron, 
 equivalent to 5.075 grains of the carbonate of 
 iron. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 From the foregoing experiments and deductions, 
 one gallon, or 231 cubic inches, of the water of 
 the Congress Spring contains the following sub- 
 stances, viz. 
 
 Chloride of Sodium, (sea salt) 385.0 
 Hydriodate of Soda, 3.5 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Soda, 8.982 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Magnesia, 95.788 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 98.098 
 
 Carbonate of Iron, 5.075 
 
 Silix, 1.5 
 
 Hydro-bromate of Potash, a trace 
 
 597.943 grs. 
 
 Carbonic acid gas, 311 
 
 Atmospheric air, 7 
 
 Gaseous contents, 318 cubic inches. 
 
 tVatcr. at the usual temperature and pressure 
 of the atmosphere, can only dissolve its own bulk 
 
 K*
 
 114 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 of carbonic acid. As this water contains nearly 
 one third more than that quantity, it becomes 
 a subject of some interest to ascertain by what 
 means it acquires so large a proportion of this 
 gas. 
 
 It is well known that the sub-carbonates of soda 
 and magnesia, when dissolved in water saturated 
 with carbonic acid, receive an additional portion 
 of the acid, and become bi-earbonates. These 
 bi-carbonates are however decomposed by the 
 application of heat, and at the temperature of boil- 
 ing water, or 212 Q , they part with the additional 
 portion of the acid, and become again sub-carbo- 
 nates, in which state these salts are obtained from 
 the water after boiling. The quantity of carbonic 
 acid given off in this way by the bi-carbonates of 
 soda and magnesia passing into sub-carbonates, 
 will account very satisfactorily for the quantity 
 obtained from the water over and above its bulk. 
 
 It will be observed that the quantity of carbon- 
 ic acid obtained from one gallon exceeds its bulk 
 by 80 cubic inches, which, allowing 100 cubic 
 inches to weigh 4G.57 grains, will amount to 37.25 
 grains ; and the additional portion of carbonic acid 
 taken up by the quantity of soda and magnesia 
 found in the water, in order to constitute the bi- 
 carbonates, will amount to about 35.5 "rains, a
 
 REMARKS. 115 
 
 correspondence sufficiently accurate to justify the 
 position here taken. 
 
 This water lias been repeatedly analyzed by a 
 number of professed chemists ; but the results of 
 their examinations have been so discordant as to 
 afford but little confidence in their correctness. 
 These results, however, do not differ so much in 
 the variety of the articles produced, as in the quan- 
 tities of those acknowledged to be present. Much 
 of this difference may be imputed to the various 
 methods adopted to separate the constituent prop- 
 erties, and to the different states in which these 
 properties are produced; some of them being in 
 a state of crystallization containing a large por- 
 tion of water, while the same article is obtained 
 under another process in a perfectly dry state, 
 producing an essential difference in the apparent 
 quantity. But the greatest cause of the discord- 
 ant results is the transportation of the water from 
 the spring. It is usually bottled, perhaps imper- 
 fectly corked, transported to a considerable dis- 
 tance, and then suffered to stand in a quiescent 
 state, subjected to a variety of temperature, until 
 the convenience of the chemist affords an oportu- 
 nity for its examination. In this way it must ne- 
 cessarily part with a large share of its carbonic 
 acid and the substances held in solution by it are 
 of course precipitated. Hence no iron, or but
 
 116 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 equivocal traces of it, are obtained from the wa- 
 ter thus procured ; while at the fountain, its pres- 
 ence is clearly demonstrated by the most simple 
 experiments : indeed, the mere deposit from the 
 water, as it passes from the spring, affords incon- 
 testible evidence of its presence. It is therefore 
 abundantly evident, that in order to obtain any 
 thing like an accurate knowledge of the proper- 
 ties and proportions of the various salts which en- 
 ter into the composition of this water, the analysis 
 should be conducted on the spot. 
 
 The late Professor Dana suggested the idea, 
 that some of the substances obtained from the 
 water by analysis might be the product of the 
 operation, and not an original ingredient ; and 
 added, that " carbonate of soda and muriate of 
 magnesia might exist in solution together in this 
 dilute state, without their mutual affinities being 
 exerted ; but when the solution was concentrated, 
 carbonate of magnesia and muriate of soda would 
 be formed ;" and he therefore inferred, that in- 
 stead of the muriate of soda and carbonate of mag- 
 nesia, as procured from a quantity of this water, 
 the basis of these two salts actually existed in the 
 water in the state of the muriate of magnesia and 
 carbonate of soda.
 
 REMARKS. 117 
 
 This subject has been subsequently investigated 
 by Dr. Murray. He alleges, from numerous ex- 
 periments, that from evaporating the solvent, ho 
 procured salts different from those known to be 
 in the solution. This induced him to call in ques- 
 tion the usual modes of analysis ; and he proposed 
 another method of determining the state of com- 
 bination of the ingredients obtained from mineral 
 waters, founded upon the principle that the force 
 of affinity is much influenced by the operation of 
 external circumstances ; and that when these 
 occur, compounds may be formed different from 
 those which owe their origin to the pure force of 
 affinity. Professor Brande, however, of the royal 
 institution of London, will not admit the existence 
 of incompatible salts to the extent which Dr. 
 Murray's principle requires. 
 
 Be this as it may, facts do not warrant the be- 
 lief that the operation of the principle, if establish- 
 ed, is exerted in the formation of any of the salts 
 contained in this water. If a part of the muriatic 
 acid, which goes to form the muriate of soda in 
 the concentrated solution, is really united to the 
 magnesia or lime while in a more dilute state, it 
 follows of course, that the quantity of the carbo- 
 nate of soda at the same time mu^t be considera- 
 bly increased ; but this docs not appear to be the 
 fact. The application of appropriate tests to the
 
 118 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 water fresh from the spring, indicate but faintly 
 the presence of a carbonated alkali ; but as the 
 water is concentrated, the existence of this article 
 becomes more and more apparent ; whereas, di- 
 rectly the reverse of this would be the case, if the 
 suggestion of Professor Dana was correct. It is 
 therefore more than probable that the substances 
 obtained are actually those which enter into the 
 composition of the water, and constitute its active 
 medicinal properties. 
 
 MEDICAL HISTORY. 
 
 The medicinal qualities of this spring have ac- 
 quired for it a reputation abroad to which no oth- 
 er fountain in the United States has yet attained ; 
 and it is highly probable, from the active ingredi- 
 ents which enter into its composition, that it will 
 continue to retain an ascendancy which has been 
 so liberally and so justly conferred upon it. Such 
 are its rare and peculiar properties, that while it 
 operates as an active and efficient medicine, it 
 possesses the properties of an agreeable and de- 
 lightful beverage ; and it is daily sought after and 
 drank by all classes of people, for no other pur- 
 pose than simply to gratify the palate or to allay 
 the thirst. And although in this way it is fre- 
 quently taken in sufficient quantities to produce 
 its most active effects upon the bowels, it is sel-
 
 MEDICAL HISTORY. 119 
 
 dom, if ever, known to be attended with any un- 
 pleasant consequences,but is always considered by 
 those who thus use it as invigorating and healthy. 
 
 From one to three pints of the water, taken in 
 the morning before eating, usually operates freely 
 as a cathartic, and at the same time has a most 
 powerful effect in increasing the ordinary secre- 
 tions of the kidneys ; but its operation, like that of 
 all other medicines, is much influenced by the 
 condition of the stomach and bowels at the time 
 of receiving it, as well as by the state of the sys- 
 tem generally. It therefore frequently happens 
 that a much larger quantity seems to be required, 
 in order to produce its characteristic effect upon 
 the bowels ; and invalids have been known to 
 drink twenty, thirty and even forty tumblers full 
 of it in a morning without much apparent incon- 
 venience. It requires, however, but a slight ac- 
 quaintance with the properties of the water, to 
 satisfy any rational mind, that such a procedure is 
 highly improper and even dangerous. Quantities 
 so immoderate can never be useful to persons 
 who are cither infirm or in health ; and there are 
 numerous instances in which they have produced 
 consequences of a very alarming character. 
 
 It is a cathartic, possessing evidently interesting 
 and important qualities, and as such it is recom-
 
 120 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 mended and used in all those chronic diseases 
 where cathartics and gentle aperients are indica- 
 ted ; and such are its peculiar effects, when judi- 
 ciously administered, that it may be persevered in 
 for almost any length of time, and a daily increas- 
 ed evacuation from the bowels produced without 
 debilitating the alimentary canal, or in any way 
 impairing the digestive powers of the stomach ; 
 but on the contrary, the spirits, appetite and gen- 
 eral health will be improved and invigorated. 
 
 It is obvious that the mode and management of 
 taking the water must depend altogether upon the 
 nature of the case for which it is administered, 
 and the consequent kind of effect desired to be 
 produced from it. As it is directed simply for 
 its cathartic or aperient properties, it is in almost 
 all cases important that its operation should be 
 speedily and promptly effected. The quantity re- 
 quired to produce the effect desired must be varied 
 with different persons ; and even the same per- 
 sons at different times, and under different cir- 
 cumstances, will require different portions. It is 
 therefore impossible to fix upon any certain quan- 
 tity that will apply in all cases : much must be 
 left to the judgment and discretion of the invalid 
 himself. In ordinary cases, three pints taken on 
 an empty stomach, an hour or two before eating, 
 and followed by a proper share of exercise, will
 
 MEDICAL HISTORY. 121 
 
 be found amply sufficient for all the purposes re- 
 quired. Should this quantity however be found 
 inadequate to the effect, it will be better to relin- 
 quish the use of it altogether for the day, than to 
 attempt to produce a different result by additional 
 potations of the water. On the following morn- 
 ing the quantity may be increased to another 
 pint ; and should there be fears of the inadequacy 
 of this quantity from extreme constipation of the 
 bowels or other causes, a tea-spoonful or two of 
 epsom salts may be added to the first tumbler. 
 This will insure a competent operation, and the 
 invalid will soon be enabled by his experience to 
 determine the quantity which his case requires. 
 
 In cases where the stomach and bowels have 
 been for a long time subjected to the effect of 
 morbid excitement, and the whole system ener- 
 vated by the deranged functions of the assimilat- 
 ing organs, the quantity here recommended will 
 be altogether inadmissible. The effects of disten- 
 tion, and the abstraction of temperature conse- 
 quent upon admitting so large a quantity of cold 
 water into a stomach thus enfeebled, can scarcely 
 fail of being highly detrimental. Reliance there- 
 fore must not be placed upon the water in these 
 rases, to move the bowels ; it can only be used as 
 an auxiliary to that purpose, and should always 
 be associated with some other cathartic medicine
 
 122 CONGRESS SPRING. 
 
 suited to- the particular case. A little magnesia, 
 magnesia and rhubarb or a laxative pill may be 
 taken over night, and a tea-spoon or two of 
 the sulphate of potass or magnesia, combined with 
 a glass or two of the water in the morning, is 
 usually advised. 
 
 The proper time for drinking the water of this 
 spring is unquestionably in the morning an hour 
 or two before breakfast ; indeed, as a general 
 rule it should not be meddled with at any other 
 period of the day ; and it would be much better 
 for those whose complaints rendei them fit sub- 
 jects for its administration, if the fountain should 
 be locked up and no one suffered to approach it 
 after the hour of nine or ten in the morning. 
 
 Nothing can be more absurd than the ridicu- 
 lous practice of taking large potations of this water 
 at all hours of the day, and particularly, immedi- 
 ately after meals. The impropriety of evacu- 
 ating the contents of the stomach and bowels be- 
 fore the assimilating powers of digestion have 
 accomplished their labors, must be obvious to 
 every one. It should therefore only be taken in 
 the morning before eating, when its operation 
 will be exerted in removing the fetid remnants of 
 an impaired digestion, and evacuating the sordid 
 and irritating accumulations induced by an en-
 
 MEDICAL HISTORY. 123 
 
 feebled state of the intestinal canal. When this 
 effect is produced, the water has accomplished all 
 that can reasonably be expected from its use ; 
 and the digestive organs being freed from their 
 offensive feculent burthen, are left in a condition 
 to act with better effect on the subsequent ali- 
 ment which may be presented to them. 
 
 The invalid, whose health and strength will 
 admit of it, should always rise as early as six 
 o'clock at farthest, and when the weather is suit- 
 able, repair to the spring, and take the water at 
 the fountain head. The exercise necessarily 
 connected with this mode of drinking the water, 
 together with the invigorating effect of a whole- 
 some atmosphere and amusing company, add 
 much to its efficacy as a medicine. 
 
 The manner of drinking the water at the foun- 
 tain requires but little attention. It is dipped 
 from the spring in half pint tumblers, one of 
 which constitutes a very suitable quantity for a 
 single draught. As it is intended to move the 
 bowels, it is necessary that these draughts should 
 be repeated in as quick succession as the condi- 
 tion of the stomach will permit. As soon as the 
 Kcnse of fulness occasioned by the first tumbler 
 has passed off, another may be taken, and so on 
 until the quantity necessary to move the bowels
 
 12 t CONGRESS SPRING, 
 
 has all been drank. This is usually accomplish- 
 ed in the course of half an hour, without materi- 
 ally disturbing the tranquility of the stomach, 
 and its effect is seldom delayed beyond the limits 
 of an hour. Should this be the case, however,, 
 and no operation effected before the period of 
 breakfast arrives, a cup of coffee or tea, connect- 
 ed with a light repast and suitable exercise, will 
 seldom fail of producing a speedy termination to 
 the delay. 
 
 The low temperature of the water, in some 
 cases, forms a serious objection to its being drank 
 to the extent that is required. This may be rem- 
 edied in some measure by securing the water in 
 well corked bottles, and suffering them to stand 
 in the room over night. In this situation the 
 temperature of the water is elevated to that of 
 the atmosphere of the room, and may be drank 
 with less danger of producing chills, When 
 these do succeed, after the above precaution, re- 
 course is sometimes had to plunging the bottle 
 into warm water a few times before removing 
 the cork. This will unquestionably remedy the 
 evil ; but the water will be more apt to produce 
 nausea and other unpleasant disturbances of the 
 stomach, not less injurious to the- good effect to. 
 be expected from its use than that of chills..
 
 ^ MEDICAL HISTORY. 125 
 
 It should always be remembered, that by ele- 
 vating the temperature of the water to any ex- 
 tent, the escape of its carbonic acid becomes 
 abundant, and it is thereby deprived of one of its 
 most important ingredients, the loss of which 
 renders it extremely insipid, and its effects are 
 by no means so pleasant or useful. 
 
 The property of this fountain has, within a 
 few years, passed into the hands of Doct. John 
 Clarke, who is now the sole proprietor and own- 
 er of it. This gentleman has made it an object 
 of his special care and attention, and it is to his 
 liberality that the public arc indebted for the 
 convenient and cleanly manner in which the wa- 
 ter is presented to them at the well, and for the 
 improvements that have been made and are still 
 making in its immediate vicinity, lie is likewise 
 entitled to great credit for the care and attention 
 which he bestows in putting up the water and 
 preparing it for transportation. He is now the 
 only person through whom it can be procured ;* 
 and such has been the success of his exertions, 
 and the public estimation of its value, that it has 
 
 * Dr. Clar':e has reserved to himself the exclusive right of 
 botth:iT am) vending the water, and the puhlic mav rely up- 
 on recf.ivi:i it from him in as perfect a state PS it ij capable of 
 retaining when bottled.
 
 326 CONGRESS SPRING.. f 
 
 been introduced into almost every part of the 
 world. There is scarcely a town in the United 
 States of any magnitude that is not supplied with 
 it, nor a vessel destined to any distant port that 
 does not enumerate the Congress water in the 
 list of her sea stores or her freight. 
 
 The water loses much of its pungency and 
 agreeable flavor from being bottled, and its iron 
 is entirely deposited. It however retains its 
 aperient properties in tolerable perfection, and if 
 properly secured and kept in a quiescent state 
 and even temperature, may be preserved to any 
 length of time. 
 
 The practice of putting the water into wooden 
 casks, earthen jugs, or tin canisters, for the pur- 
 pose of transportation, as is sometimes done, is 
 but little better than placing it in open vessels. 
 It soon loses its vivifying gas, and becomes ex- 
 tremely insipid and offensive. It can only be 
 properly secured and preserved in strong glass 
 bottles, well corked, and the corks fastened by 
 wiring. 
 
 From the known and acknowledged efficacy 
 of the water as a medicine, it was inferred that 
 its saline deposits might answer a valuable pur- 
 pose in cases where the water could not be pro-
 
 MEDICAL HISTORY. 127 
 
 cured, and at one time considerable quantities 
 were manufactured for sale, by evaporation ; but 
 the imperfect solubility of these salts renders 
 them not only disagreeable, but frequently irri- 
 tating and offensive to the stomach, and the pres- 
 ent proprietor of the spring has very properly 
 prohibited their further manufacture. 
 
 Influenced by the popular character of the 
 water, individuals have been induced to attempt 
 an artificial composition of it, and, under the im- 
 posing names of " Congress Water" and " Sara- 
 toga Powders," articles have been presented to 
 the public which, although they possess aperient 
 qualities, in reality bear no resemblance, either in 
 their effects or their properties, to the mineral 
 water, the name of which they have assumed. 
 They may move the bowels, it is true, but in this 
 they do not appear to possess any superiority 
 over the common Seidlitz powder, which is now 
 in every body's hands, and which, as a laxative 
 medicine, in all ordinary cases, is undoubtedly to 
 be preferred.
 
 COLUMBIAN SPRIWO. 
 
 THIS fountain is situated on the south side of 
 the brook, about eight rods directly southwest 
 from the Congress. . It discovers itself at the foot 
 of a steep bank, consisting of loose sand and 
 yellow loam. 
 
 The water being confined by a wooden curb, 
 rises a few inches above the surface of the sur- 
 rounding earth, and escapes through a small hole 
 in the side of the curb, made for the purpose. 
 
 The well is sunk in the earth about six feet, and 
 such is the supply of water, that it is difficult to 
 remove it as fast as it accumulates, even with a 
 bucket. 
 
 The surface of the water, when viewed in the 
 fountain, does not present the simmering appear- 
 ance so conspicuous in the Congress ; but the 
 gas breaks up through it in much larger bubbles, 
 at irregular intervals, giving to the water the re- 
 semblance of a more violent cbulition. 
 
 The surface of tbe earth over which the water 
 escapes, and the inside of the troughs which con-
 
 COLUMBIAN SPRING, 
 
 duct it away, as well as the inside of the curb, 
 are covered with a thick ferruginous crust of a 
 deep brown color. 
 
 
 
 The water itself is quite limpid, and when 
 drank, betrays a strong chalybeate taste, and a 
 pungency indicative of the presence of a large 
 portion of carbonic acid. In its ^physical prop- 
 erties generally, this water resembles the Con- 
 gress in all respects, excepting its saline impreg- 
 nation, which is evidently much less. 
 
 Its temperature at the bottom of the well is 
 uniformly at 50 deg., and its specific gravity at 
 the temperature of 60 deg. The barometer, 
 standing at 29.5 inches, is 1007.3, pure water be- 
 ing 1000. 
 
 The application of chemical tests to the water 
 of this fountain indicates nothing to distinguish it 
 from that of the Congress, the same ingredients 
 being clearly distinguished in both. They differ, 
 however, in tlie quantities of the articles which 
 they respectively hold in solution, as is shown by 
 the specific gravity of the two, as well as by the 
 greater or less effect produced by the application 
 of re-agents. Indeed, in this respect there is a 
 very perceptible difference indicated by the taste 
 alone.
 
 130 COLVMBIAN SPRING. 
 
 By pursuing a process similar to that related in 
 the analysis of the Congress water, one gallon, or 
 231 cubic inches of this water, yielded the fol- 
 lowing ingredients, viz. 
 
 Chloride of Sodium, 2C7. 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Soda, 15.1 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Magnesia, 46.71 
 
 Ilydrodate of Soda, 2. 50 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 68. 
 
 Carbonate of Iron, 5.58 
 
 Silix, 2.05 
 llydro-bromate of Potash, scarce- 
 ly a trace. 
 
 Solid contents in a gallon, 407.3 gr. 
 
 Carbonic acid gas, 272.06 
 
 Atmospheric air, 4.5 
 
 Gaseous contents in a gallon, 276.56 inch. 
 
 This spring has been materially improved, by 
 clearing out the well and securing it against the 
 intrusion of fresh water, by means of a tight curb 
 inserted to its bottom. 
 
 The water seldom operates as a cathartic, un- 
 less when taken in large quantities, or used by 
 persons whose stomachs are extremelv irritable
 
 WASHINGTON SPRING. 131 
 
 Its most obvious effects, when taken in proper 
 doses, are diuretic, at the same time operating on 
 the secretions and excretions generally. It like- 
 wise manifests the powers of a mild and pleasant 
 stimulant ; and from the large proportion of iron 
 which enters into its composition, it occupies a 
 distinguished rank among the tonic waters which 
 the place affords. 
 
 WAPIIIXGTOX 
 
 PuusriNG a southwest direction from the Co- 
 lumbian Spring about fifty rods, we come to the 
 Washington Spring, situated by the side of a rill 
 of very pure water, which has its origin from the 
 banks of sand at no great distance. The foun- 
 tain is situated on ground considerably elevated 
 above any of the others. It makes i;s appear- 
 aiK-e at the surface through a bed of argillaceous 
 marl of a deep blue color. The water, neverthe- 
 less, is remarkably limpid, and has been recently 
 much improved, in all its sensible properties, by 
 sinking the well to a much greater depth, anil 
 securing it by a tight wooden curb. 
 
 It is a sparkling acidulous water. Its temper- 
 ature is 50 cleg, and its specific gravity, at the
 
 i32 WASHINGTON SPRING. 
 
 temperature of 60 deg. under the ordinary pres- 
 sure of the atmosphere, is 1007.8, and one gallon 
 of it affords the following articles, viz. 
 
 Chloride of Sodium, grs. 281.5 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Soda, 16.5 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Magnesia, 40.92 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 92.6 
 
 Carbonate of Iron, 3.25 
 
 Silix, 1.5 
 
 Hvdriodate of Soda, 2.75 
 
 Solid contents in a gallon, grs. 439.02 
 
 Carbonic acid gas, 262.5 
 
 Atmospheric air, 6.8 
 
 Gaseous contents in a gallon, 269.3 inch. 
 
 This fountain was resorted to formerly, on ac- 
 count of its retired situation, (it being then in a 
 forest,) for the purpose of bathing ulcerated limbs 
 and eruptive diseases of the body, for the cure of 
 which it became quite distinguished. From this 
 hint a large and commodious bath-house has 
 been erected close to the spring, called the 
 Washington Bath, which is supplied with mineral 
 water from this spring. It has likewise the ad- 
 vantage of the very pure stream of fresh water
 
 WASHINGTON SPRING. 133 
 
 which passes immediately under the building, for 
 the purpose or ordinary bathing. 
 
 Near to this spring there has been erected a 
 small fish-pond, which is abundantly supplied 
 with pure water from the neighboring sand banks. 
 With this pond is enclosed about an acre of 
 ground, a part of which is tastefully laid out into 
 walks ; and on the margin of the little pool is es- 
 tablished a bowling alloy and billiard table, the 
 whole of which is screened and shaded by the 
 native pine and other forest trees, forming a very 
 pleasant and quiet spot for retirement or recrea- 
 tion. 
 
 This fountain, together with the Columbian, 
 constitute all the mineral waters that have come 
 into notice in this direction from the Congress. 
 All the other fountains at this place are situated 
 along the course of the valley, in a north-east 
 direction.
 
 3f SPRING. 
 
 THIS spring is situated in the low ground about 
 30 rods from the Congress, in a north-east direc- 
 tion, immediately in the rear of Congress Hall. 
 It was discovered and named after the late Ge- 
 neral Hamilton by Mr. Gideon Putnam, one of the , 
 early settlers of the place, not long after the dis- 
 covery of the Congress Spring. It was cleared 
 out to the depth of only a few feet, and the water 
 secured by a small wooden curb. In this situa- 
 tion it remained for a number of years, its waters 
 being devoted mostly to the supply of a bathing 
 establishment erected in its immediate vicinity. 
 After the decease of Mr.' Putnam, the property 
 passed into other hands, and the well has since 
 been sunk to a much greater depth, and more 
 effectually secured against the intrusion of foreign 
 substances, by which means the water has been 
 materially improved. 
 
 The surface of the water within the curb is con- 
 stantly agitated by the escape of large quantities
 
 HAMILTON SPRING. 135 
 
 of gas ; and as the water passes off, it leaves on 
 the surface of the earth an abundant deposit of a 
 brownish colour, evidently ferruginous and calca- 
 reous. 
 
 The water, when first taken from the spring, is 
 remarkably clear and sparkling ; but, on standing 
 exposed to the atmosphere, soon becomes turbid. 
 It is saline and acidulous to the taste, and when 
 taken to the quantity of five or six half pints, is 
 usually cathartic and diuretic. 
 
 The temperature of the bottom of the well is 
 uniformly at 50 deg. and its specific gravity at the 
 temperature of 60 deg. and under a pressure of 
 the atmosphere, indicated by the mercury in the 
 barometer standing at thirty inches, is 1008.5, 
 pure water being 1000. 
 
 The indications afforded by the application of 
 tests correspond with those already noticed in the 
 examination of the Congress water ; and by pur- 
 suing a process similar to that adopted in the analy- 
 sis of that water, the following ingredients were 
 obtained from one gallon, viz. 
 
 grs. 
 
 Chloride of Sodium, 297.3 
 
 Hydriodate of Soda, 3.
 
 136 HAMILTON SPRING. 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Soda, 27.036 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Magnesia, 35.2 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 92.4 
 
 Carbonate of Iron, 5.30 
 Hydro-bromate of Potash, a 
 
 trace. 
 
 Solid contents in one gallon, 400.326 grs. 
 
 Carbonic acid gas, 316 
 
 Atmospheric air, 4 
 
 Gaseous contents in a gallon, 320 inches. 
 
 This water ranks first among the springs as a 
 diuretic, and it has long been celebrated for its 
 good effects in gravelly and calculous affections. 
 It is second only to the Congress in its saline im- 
 pregnation, and is frequently used as a substitute 
 for the water of the latter spring in all those ca- 
 ses where the irritable state of the stomach ren- 
 ders the more drastic effects of that water inad- 
 missible. 
 
 In scrofula, and indeed all other indolent swel- 
 lings of the glands, the water of this spring, to- 
 gether with that of the Columbian, will unques- 
 tionably take the preference ; for, although they 
 do not contain quite so large a proportion of the
 
 HAMILTON SPRING. 137 
 
 iodine as is found in the Congress water, they 
 contain a much less quantity of other active sa- 
 line ingredients, which render them less liaole to 
 affect the bowels, and their effects upon the sys- 
 tem generally are thereby rendered more cer- 
 tain. 
 
 It is, without doubt, owing to the iodine which 
 these waters contain, that they have become so 
 famous in the cure of strumous affections ; and 
 the water which contains the greatest abundance 
 of this article, and is least encumbered with those 
 substances that may tend to retard or prevent its 
 effects upon the system, should unquestionably 
 be directed as the most applicable in these com- 
 plaints. 
 
 The Hamilton bath-house is erected close to 
 this spring, and is supplied by it with water for 
 its mineral baths, which are situated in secure 
 and well furnished apartments, prepared either 
 for shower bathing or immersing the body in the 
 water, which may always, during the season, be 
 procured either warm or cold. Fresh \vatcr 
 baths are also furnished here for those who pre- 
 fer them, and which should always be preferred 
 in cases where the bath is used simply as a
 
 188 HAMILTON SPRIXG. 
 
 source of cleanliness. The rooms are sufficiently 
 spacious and well ventilated, and the whole es- 
 tablishment is cleanly and well conducted.* 
 
 * About twenty rods north of the Hamilton, is the PUTNAM'S 
 CONGRESS, (deriving its name from the discoverer and owner.) 
 A mineral spring flowed from the same locality for several 
 years, but without attracting any particular notice ; and the 
 present spring has been obtained by sinking a tube to a con- 
 siderable depth. It is a valuable fountain, and held in high re- 
 pute by many who have experienced the benign effects of its 
 healing properties. Had the life of Doct. STEEL, the author of 
 this volume, been prolonged, the spring in question would un- 
 doubtedly have been analyzed and a description of its medical 
 properties given. But his death has not only deprived the public 
 of this, but also of a publication of other useful matter connected 
 with a history of the Springs and their uses as a medicine. With- 
 out pretending, therefore, to give even a sketch of the ingredi- 
 ents of this fountain, which are doubtless similar to those of 
 the other springs in its vicinity, we will merely remark that 
 it is probably second only to the old Congress in its medical 
 qualities. There is also connected with it a first rate bathing 
 establishment. PUBLISHER.
 
 FtAT BOCK SPRING. 
 
 FOLLOWING the course of the valley in a north- 
 east direction from the Hamilton, about eigh- 
 ty rods, we come to the Flat Rock Spring. It 
 is situated directly in the rear of the Pavilion, on 
 the verge of the marsh, at the foot of a steep bank 
 which terminates the west side of the valley, 
 through which a small brook passes. This bank 
 is composed of argillaceous earth and sand, and 
 is elevated about forty feet above the level of the 
 brook. 
 
 The earth for *ome rods around this spring was 
 formerly encrusted by a thick bed of calcareous 
 tufa, which long exposure to the air had harden- 
 ed into a pretty solid rock ; and from this circum- 
 stance the spring received its name. This rock 
 was neither more nor less than the usual sedi- 
 ment deposited by the water, combined with sand, 
 leaves, sticks, &c. for which it was indebted to 
 the wind and rain ; and is no more than what 
 happens about any of the fountains where the 
 water docs not find a ready egress, or is suffered 
 to stagnate in their immediate vicinity. The pro- 
 gress of improvement has, however, at this time 
 nearly obliterated this natural platform, and the
 
 140 FLAT ROCK SPRING. 
 
 spot is now occupied by a tasteful little Chinese 
 temple. 
 
 The well has been sunk to the depth of about 
 fifteen feet, and a square tube made of plank in- 
 serted to its bottom. Through this the water ri- 
 ses to the surface of the earth and runs off in a 
 small stream, depositing a copious sediment of a 
 dark brown colour, along the whole extent of its 
 course to the brook, which passes some rods dis- 
 tant. 
 
 The appearance and taste of this water very 
 much resemble that of the Columbian, and the 
 analysis, conducted upon the same principle, con- 
 firms the similarity. 
 
 Its temperature is 48 deg. and its specific grav- 
 ity at the temperature of GO deg. the barometer 
 standing at 29.5 inches, is 1006.9, pure water be- 
 ing 1000. 
 
 One gallon afforded the following articles, viz. 
 
 Chloride of Sodium, 148.866 
 Carbonate of Lime, 60.573 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Magnesia, 42.7 
 
 Bi-carbonate of $oda. 20.79
 
 FLAT ROCK SPRING. 141 
 
 Carbonate of Iron, 5.39 
 
 Hydriodate of Soda, 1.33 
 
 Hydro-bromate of Potash a trace 
 in four gallons. 
 
 Silix & Alumine a minute quantity. 
 
 Solid contents in one gallon, 279.G49 grs. 
 
 Carbonic acid gas, 287.5 cub. inch. 
 
 Atmospheric air, 6.5 
 
 Gaseous contents in a gallon, 294.0 cub. inch. 
 
 This water is used in all cases for which the 
 Columbian is recommended. It has generally 
 been considered one of the best chalybeate springs 
 which the place affords, and on that account has 
 been the most frequented. It is not improbable 
 that there are cases in which this water will an- 
 swer a better purpose as a tonic medicine than 
 the Columbian, from the circumstance of its con- 
 taining a greater quantity of carbonic acid, a less 
 quantity of the saline principle, and at the same 
 time containing an equal portion of the tonic prop- 
 erties.* 
 
 * A few rods farther north is the MONROE SFP.IXC, the analy- 
 sis of which, for tlic reason aligned in the note at page 133, 
 was not prepared fur this voluin". It in a valuable fountain, 
 somewhat similar in its character to the Washington, Ilamii-
 
 I D II. II ROCK SPRING. 
 
 PURSUING the course of the valley about eigh- 
 ty rods further in a northerly direction, we 
 come to the High Rock Spring ; it is situated 
 near the base of a ledge of calcareous rocks 
 which at this place mark the westerly side of the 
 valley. 
 
 The rock which gives the name to this spring, 
 and surrounds and encloses the fountain, is of a 
 conical shape, and apparently rests on the surface 
 of the marl, or is but slightly connected with it. 
 It narrows rapidly as it rises from the earth, and 
 terminates in a rounded top, in the centre of 
 which is a circular opening, which leads to the in- 
 terior cavity. This opening gradually widens as 
 the rock enlarges, leaving its walls nearly of an 
 equal thickness throughout. In this cavity the 
 water rises some feet above the surface of the 
 surrounding earth, and is there seen constantly 
 agitated by the incessant escape of carbonic acid 
 
 ton, Flat Rock and High Rock, and has a deserved reputation 
 for its medicinal qualities. There is also connected with it a 
 commodious and cleanly bathing establishment, which is sup- 
 plied by this fountain with mineral water, and by a very pure 
 spring from an adjoining bank with fresh water. PUBLISHER.
 
 HIGH KOCK SPRING. 143 
 
 gas, for which the vacancy above the water forms 
 a capacious and secure reservoir, where the curi- 
 ous may at any time make the experiment of its 
 deleterious effects on animal life. 
 
 This rock very justly claims a conspicuous 
 place among the interesting natural curiosities 
 which our country affords. The venerable Dr. 
 Seaman in noticing this singular production ob- 
 serves : " The more we reflect upon it, the more 
 we must be convinced of the important place this 
 rock ought to hold among the wonderful works of 
 nature. Had it stood upon the borders of the 
 Logo d' Agnano, the noted Grotto del Cani, which 
 burdens almost every book which treats upon the 
 carbonic acid gas, since the peculiar properties of 
 the air have been known, would never have been 
 heard of beyond the environs of Naples, while this 
 fountain, in its place, would have been deservedly 
 celebrated in story, and spread upon canvass, to 
 the admiration of the world, as one of its greatest 
 curiosities.'' 
 
 The following dimensions of this singular pro- 
 duction of nature were taken from actual meas- 
 urement : 
 
 Perpendicular height, four feet. 
 Circumference at the base, twenty-six feet eight 
 inches.
 
 144 HIGH ROCK SPRING. 
 
 Length of a line drawn over the top, from north 
 to south, eleven feet seven inches. 
 
 Length of the same from east to west, ten feet 
 nine inches. 
 
 From the top of the rock to the surface of the 
 water, ordinarily, two feet four inches. 
 
 Depth of water in the cavity of the rock, usu- 
 ally, seven feet eight inches. 
 
 The opening at the top is nearly circular, and 
 measures ten inches across. 
 
 This rock belongs to that species of limestone 
 termed calcareous tufa, being evidently the prcv- 
 duct of the water. It is composed of the carbo- 
 nate of lime, magnesia, and the oxide of iron, to- 
 gether with a proportion of sand and clay. It 
 likewise exhibits, when broken, the impressions of 
 leaves and twigs of trees. It is somewhat undu- 
 lated on its surface, and about the top compact 
 and indurated, while near its base it is of a more 
 spongy and friable character, but every where 
 sufficiently compact to render it impervious to 
 water. 
 
 That the water at some former period issued 
 from the cavity and descended upon the sides of 
 the rock, will scarcely admit of a doubt ; but the 
 precise manner in which the rock was formed, or 
 the time when the water used to flow upon its
 
 HIGH JIOCK SPRING. 115 
 
 surface, is not quite so obvious. The most prob- 
 able conjecture is, that the basis of this mass was 
 commenced beneath the surface of the earth ; that 
 the water, thus confined within the- limits of its 
 own sediment, continued to rise, and as it escaped 
 over the sides of its prison, constantly added to 
 the dimensions of its walls. In this manner it 
 would continue to rise until the column of water 
 in the rock balanced the power that forced it up, 
 in which case it would become stationary ; and it 
 is but just to infer, that in process of time, the pow- 
 er so prqpelling the water might be diminished in 
 its force, when the water in the spring wov-lil of 
 course sink in exact proportion to the loss of that 
 power. 
 
 There was an opinion prevailing among the ear- 
 ly settlers, that the rjck had been fractured by 
 the fall of a tree, and Lo this accident they impu- 
 ted the failure of the water to run over its top, 
 believing that it escaped through a fissure, which, 
 although invisible, they still imagined must exist. 
 Tiiis conjecture, however, docs not appear to 
 l;avc been well fouridt.-d. The spring was visited 
 as early as 17(>7, and no appearance to justify 
 5:uch an opinion then presented it. self, although the 
 water did nut at ihat time reach the top of the 
 rock by several inches.
 
 146 HIGH ROCK SPRING. 
 
 Loran Tarbel, an aged chief of the St. Regis 
 tribe of Indians, told the present Chancellor Wai- 
 worth, that he visited this spring while a boy ; 
 and that he was told by the Indians that the wa- 
 ter once ran over the top, buj owing, as they 
 supposed, to some of their women bathing in it 
 when they ought not to have done so, the water 
 sunk back into the rock and never showed itself 
 again at the top. 
 
 The conspicuous appearance which this rock 
 makes, must have introduced it to the notice of 
 the natives at a very early period ; and although 
 it was probably known and visited by individuals 
 whose business called them to the woods, it does 
 not appear to have attracted much attention from 
 the white population of the country until about 
 the year 1767, when it was first visited by Sir 
 William Johnson. From this period, " the spring" 
 came more rapidly into notice, and for some years 
 this was the only one to which much consequence 
 was attached. 
 
 The extravagant stories told by the first set- 
 tlers of the astonishing effects of this water in the 
 cure of almost every species of disease, are still 
 remembered and repeated by their too credulous 
 descendants. This, in conjunction with the sin- 
 gular and mysterious character of the rock, con-
 
 HIGH ROCK SPRING. 147 
 
 tinue to attach an importance to the waters, in 
 the eyes of the vulgar, at which no other fountain 
 will ever arrive. 
 
 The temperature at the bottom of the well is 
 48 deg., and its specific gravity at an atmospheric 
 pressure, indicated by the barometer standing at 
 29.5 inches, is 1006,85, pure water being 1000. 
 
 One gallon of the water afforded the following 
 ingredients, viz. 
 
 - 
 
 Chloride of Sodium, 189.10 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Magnesia, 61.592 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Soda, 17.538 
 
 Hydriodate of Soda, 2.5 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 69.29 
 
 Carbonate of Iron, 5.58 
 
 Silix and Alumine, a small quantity. 
 Hydro-bromate of Potash, a trace in 
 
 four gallons of the water. 
 Solid contents in a gallon, 345.68 grs. 
 
 Carbonic acid gas, 304 
 
 Atmospheric air, 5 
 
 Caseous contents in a gallon, 309 cub. inch.
 
 148 HIGH ROCK SPRING. 
 
 Since the discover}' of the Congress Spring 
 and the extensive improvements that have been 
 made in that vicinity, the water of this fountain, 
 as well as that of several others situated in its 
 immediate neighborhood, have rather sunk into 
 disuse, and the old village, as this part of the 
 town is now termed, evidently discovers a cor- 
 respondent desertion ; but whatever may be the 
 destiny of the place or the credit of the w r ater, 
 no means should be spared to protect and secure 
 the rock. It has alread}^ suffered considerably 
 from the depredations of unprincipled specimen 
 gatherers, and it will be finally ruined, unless 
 some more effectual method be- adopted to pre- 
 vent it.
 
 PRESIDENT SPRING. 
 
 ABOUT thirty rods, in a northeastern direction 
 from the High Rock, in the same valley, is situa- 
 ted the President Spring. The earth was re- 
 moved to the depth of about four feet, when the 
 spring was discovered bubbling up through the 
 fissures in a stratum of lime rock, furnishing an 
 ample supply of water in the wooden curb which 
 was designed to protect and secure it. Within a 
 few years this spring, like most of the others, has 
 undergone considerable improvement by being 
 more effectually secured against the intrusion of 
 fresh water ; since which period the temperature 
 and specific gravity have become the same as 
 that of the High Rock, and the analysis affords 
 the same results. It is therefore probable that 
 these two waters have their origin from the same 
 source ; for they are indeed the same water.
 
 RED SPRIXG. 
 
 THIS spring is situated close to the public high- 
 way, about sixty or seventy rods in a northeast- 
 ern direction from the President. Large quanti- 
 ties of ferruginous deposits are found about it, 
 and the water, when agitated, has numerous par- 
 ticles of fine sand stained with this substance 
 floating about in it, which gives the water a red 
 appearance, from which circumstance it receives 
 its name. 
 
 Popular opinion has given much credit to the 
 water of this fountain for its beneficial effects 
 when applied to ill-conditioned ulcers and affec- 
 tions of the skin. The water, however, does not 
 appear to possess any qualities to distinguish it 
 from those which have already been described. 
 Its saline impregnation is much less than any of 
 the other springs, and its gaseous contents arc 
 still more deficient when compared with those of 
 the other fountains.
 
 TE3f SPRIXGS. 
 
 PURSUING the course of the same valley, about 
 one mile from the High Rock in an eastern di- 
 rection, vrt) come to the Ten Springs, so called 
 from the circumstance of there being that number 
 located near together. These springs were dis- 
 covered about the year 1814, on land that then 
 belonged to Messrs. John and Ziba Taylor, and 
 considerable pains were taken at the time to bring 
 them into notice. Several of them were opened 
 and secured by placing in them wooden boxes to 
 keep out the fresh water, and a small batliing 
 house was erected close to them. They never, 
 however, acquired much celebrity, and the prop- 
 erty having passed into other hands, but little at- 
 tention is now paid to them ; and it is probable, 
 from their proximity to those so distinguished, 
 that they will never rise into much consequence. 
 
 These springs are situated, like most of the oth- 
 ers that have already been described, in a soil 
 composed of argillaceous earth and sand, com- 
 bined with the usual deposits, (iron and lime ;) 
 and they likewise contain the same constituent 
 properties, differing only in the quantities of the 
 articles which they respectively hold in solution.
 
 152 TEN SPRINGS. 
 
 Some of them are considerably saline, and being 
 saturated with carbonic acid gas, they constitute 
 a very pleasant beverage, and are much used by 
 those who reside near by, both as a common drink 
 and as a medicine.
 
 EULIS' SPRING. 
 
 AHOVT t\vo miles from the Congress spring, in 
 a southwest direction, on land belonging to the 
 heirs of the late Robert Ellis, is another mineral 
 fouutain which deserves notice. It is situated at 
 the foot and on the westerly side of a high em- 
 bankment of the Saratoga and Schenectady rail 
 road, throvfii across a ravine through which Ellis' 
 creek, a principal branch of the Kayadcrosseras, 
 passes, at a deplh of about 50 feet from the sur- 
 face of the surrounding country. The side of 
 this ravine having been denuded for the pur- 
 pose of erecting mills, furnishes a favorable oppor- 
 tunity for inspecting its structure ; the arrange- 
 ment of which is as follows : 
 
 A mixture of clay and gravel, 2 feet. 
 
 Coarse gravel and sand, with a great vari- 
 ety of small stones, generally smooth, 4 
 
 At t!i3 bottom of this stratum issues a spring 
 of very pure water, which is never dry, 
 and retains a temperature of 50 deg. 
 
 Coarse gravel, sand and clay, with paving 
 stones, 20 
 
 Pur-oxide of iron, combined with sand and 
 clav, 2
 
 154 ELLIS' SPRING, 
 
 Clay and coarse gravel, 4 feet. 
 
 Lamellated slate, soft and crumbly, 3 
 
 Coarse gravel and clay, 4 
 
 Lamellated slate to the bed of the rock, 10 
 
 These strata are all placed nearly in a horizon- 
 tal position, and are well defined. 
 
 The valley in which the mineral fountain dis- 
 covers itself is of a semi-circular form, including 
 the area of an acre. 
 
 Differing from all others of the kind, this water 
 issues from the bank in a horizontal direction. It 
 betrays its character the moment it approaches 
 the surface, by its sparkling appearance, and the 
 deposit of its iron, which stains the walls of the 
 little rill, as it trickles down the declivity to the 
 marsh, a few feet below, where it has formed a 
 compact rocky substance, resembling in all re- 
 spects, the tufa before described. 
 
 The water is remarkably clear : its taste is 
 acidulous and chalybeate, and its temperature is 
 48 deg. It affords 31 6 grains of solid contents to 
 a gallon, which contents consist of marine salt, 
 carbonate of soda, lime, magnesia and iron ; the 
 last of which it affords in as great abundance as 
 any of the mineral waters either at Saratoga or
 
 ELLIS' SPRING. 155 
 
 Ballston. It is indeed a very excellent chalybe- 
 ate water ; and as such it is in high estimation, 
 although, in consequence of its remote situation, it 
 is but seldom resorted to.
 
 SPSIKGS. 
 
 In adcitici: to the springs already noticed, there 
 p.i'3 severed others which belong to the same class, 
 situated in the town of Saratoga, about ten miles 
 in a fjcuthcr^-t direction from the Congress Spring; 
 they are called the Quaker Springs 
 
 These springs make their appearance throngh 
 
 a be I of r/vi<:accoii;3 mar), at the; bouotn of a 
 (bop vr.lloy, surrounded by gray-wacke and ar- 
 frilb.cco^s slate. They contain lime, magnesia 
 and iron, hold in solution by the carbonic acid, 
 :r:d like the c-th:rs, they likcv/isc co;ita.n a por- 
 tion cf cortiTiion salt and soda. Their gaseous 
 ccr;'en1.y sro vrry ^rnall in comparison with 
 ihose LlroitJy described; their mineral irnprcgna- 
 t; :>n \?, r.ot cufiicient to e::'i:le '-hern to muoh 
 attcn^or, r-n : J they are of cvnv-e Lai little- resort- 
 ed to.
 
 BALLSTON SPA. 
 
 THE village of Ballston Spa is situated about 
 seven miles in a southwest direction from the vil- 
 lage of Saratoga Springs, in the southeast part of 
 the town of Milton, and but a few rods from the 
 ngrth line of the town of Ballston. The great 
 resort to this place, on account of its mineral wa- 
 ters has made it, like those of Saratoga, a place 
 of much notoriety. 
 
 The mineral springs are situated in a marsh at 
 the bottom of a deep valley, through which one 
 of the principal branches of the Kayaderosseras 
 creek passes. They were discovered during the 
 survey and partition of the patent of Kayaderos- 
 seras in 17G9 ; and about the same time the Rev. 
 EHphalet Ball, from Bedford, Wcstchester coun- 
 ty, with a number of his congregation, settled 
 r.bout two miles and a half from the Springs in a 
 southerly direction, on a tract of land which was 
 sxt apart and sold to defray the expenses of the 
 company in surveying the patent ; and which, 
 from that time, has been distinguished by the 
 narnc of Bullion.
 
 158 BALLSTOX SPA. 
 
 In 1772, one Peter Ferris purchased and settled 
 on a hundred acre lot, the second west from the 
 Springs ; and about the same time Benajah Doug- 
 lass, who had resided some time previous near 
 Lebanon Springs, (which at that^-time had be- 
 come a place of some resort,) entertaining the 
 belief that the springs at Ballston might become 
 a watering place of some consequence, purchased 
 a, lot of one hundred acres adjacent to and di- 
 rectly west of the then principal spring, near 
 which he erected a small log house for the ac- 
 commodation of visitants. Encouraged by the 
 success of this small beginning, Mr. Douglass, a 
 few years after, was induced to build a small 
 frame house across the creek, on the flat oppo- 
 site the spring. At this period the waters had 
 acquired a reputation of considerable notoriety, 
 and they began to be resorted to by the inhabi- 
 tants of the surrounding country, particularly 
 from the city of Albany and the settlements along 
 the valley of the Mohawk. Many came with 
 their waggons, bringing their own provisions and 
 forage, and staying several days, substituting the 
 waggon for a boarding house. After the com- 
 mencement of the war of the revolution, the set- 
 tlement of the country was suspended, and very 
 little improvement was made at these springs 
 until after the treaty of peace was concluded.
 
 BALLSTON SPA. 159 
 
 In 1791, Mr. Douglass erected a large building 
 for the accommodation of visitants, . the same 
 which now constitutes the front of the excellent 
 and well known establishment formerly kept 
 by Mr. Aldridge. In 1792, Nicholas Low, Esq. 
 of the city of New- York, the then proprietor of 
 the lot on which the springs were situated, erect- 
 ed a large and commodious house close to the 
 spring, which was kept for many years as a board- 
 ing house, and sustained a high reputation, well 
 known as McMaster's boarding house. Dur- 
 ing the ensuing ten years, these establishments 
 were much enlarged and improved, and several 
 others were erected, and the springs now became 
 the resort of great numbers of invalids, and also 
 of the wealthy and fashionable. 
 
 In 1803, Mr. Low erected that splendid estab- 
 lishment so universally known and admired, the 
 HANS Soi:ci HOTEL, and in the spring of 1804 it 
 was furnished and opened for the accommoda- 
 tion of visitants. 
 
 In 1S07, the legislature of the state passed an 
 act incorporating the settlement at the springs, 
 embracing one mile square, by the name of the 
 Village of Ballston Spa.
 
 160 BATLSTOJT SPA. 
 
 About this time several springs were discover- 
 ed in the vicinity of those already known, differ- 
 ing but little in their general character, with the 
 exception of the Sulphur water, a few feet from 
 the spring called Low's Wett, and known as one 
 of those called the Sans Souci Springs. 
 
 During the latter part of the summer of 1817, 
 continued rains had so swollen the small stream 
 which passes through the village, that it burst 
 over its usual bounds, and in some places formed 
 for itself an entire new channel. On the subsi- 
 ding of the flood, a new spring was discovered, 
 exhibiting an appearance which, connected with 
 its medicinal properties, gave for a time much 
 additional celebrity to the place. It was situa- 
 ted some rods below what was called the Public 
 Well, and in \vhat was, during the freshet, the 
 bed of the stream. It issued from a circular 
 opening of several feet in diameter, affording an 
 immense quantity of water, attended with all the 
 characteristics of a strong mineral impregnation, 
 
 With a view to prevent the connection of the 
 water with the stratum of clay through which it 
 passed up to the surface, and likewise to prevent 
 the intrusion of fresh water, a tube was ingeni- 
 ously constructed and forced into the aperture 
 from whence the water arose, to the depth of
 
 BALLSTON SPA. 161 
 
 nearly thirty feet. In this tube the water arose 
 about five feet above the level of the brook, and 
 was then suffered to fall over its sides, producing 
 in some measure the effect of a jet d'eau, while 
 the surface of the spring was brought nearly to a 
 level with the eye, furnishing a fine opportunity 
 for inspecting its sparkling properties to the 
 greatest advantage. Close to the side of this 
 tube another was inserted, not however to so 
 great a depth, through which the water arose 
 somewhat above the surface of the earth, and 
 was then suffered to escape. 
 
 It was not a little singular that the waters of 
 these two wells, apparently issuing from the 
 same source, should have contained different por- 
 tions of the muriate of soda, while they very 
 nearly corresponded in all the other articles 
 which they contained. 
 
 The water which flowed from these tubes, 
 combined with that which came up in the aper- 
 ture around them, ran off in a stream at the rate 
 of more than a barrel a minute. It commenced 
 the deposit of its chalybeate and calcareous prop- 
 erties the moment it came in contact with the 
 atmosphere, and the quantity given off by so 
 large a bulk of water continued to mark its pas-
 
 162 BALLSTON SPA. 
 
 sage along the brook into which it passed for the 
 distance of more than a mile. 
 
 This singular fountain continued about two 
 years, the wonder and admiration of all who saw 
 it and drank of its waters. At length, however, 
 the abundant carbonic acid seemed to be ex- 
 hausted, or to have taken some other course, and 
 all attempts to reclaim it have as yet proved 
 fruitless. The water still continues to flow in 
 abundance, but retaining little or none of its min- 
 eral properties excepting its iron, which it still 
 continues to hold in solution in considerable quan- 
 tities. This was called the Washington Spring'. 
 
 Not long after the first appearance of the lasf 
 mentioned spring, it was thought by many that 
 the old spring or public well on the flat had suf- 
 fered a deterioration, there being evidently a 
 much less evolution of uncombined gas than usu- 
 al, and it is not improbable that the immense 
 quantity of gas discharged at the place referred 
 to might have operated to produce the apparent 
 diminution at the old spring ; the failure, howev- 
 er, has been by some attributed to other causes. 
 A desire to improve the condition and appear- 
 ance of the well, about the same time, induced 
 an officious interference with its situation, which 
 better reflection and more experience would pro-
 
 BALL6TON SPA. 163 
 
 bably have caused to be omitted. These facts 
 are recorded merely as a matter of history, leav- 
 ing the inferences to be confirmed or otherwise 
 by future events. The water of the old spring, 
 although it has suffered some in the public esti- 
 mation, and is certainly not quite so palatable as 
 formerly, is still an excellent tonic, sitting more 
 easy and light on the stomachs of many than the 
 waters of some of the other springs, which are 
 more highly charged with the carbonic acid gas, 
 which has the effect sometimes to produce dis- 
 tention of the stomach, and consequent vertigo 
 and pain in the head. 
 
 In the year 1822, on removing an old floor and 
 other rubbish under a building attached to the 
 bathing house, a spring was discovered, or rather 
 reclaimed, (for its existence had been known 
 many years before,) apparently more saline than 
 any which the place afforded ; it now constitutes 
 one of those called the Sans Souci Springs, and 
 is situated about equi-distant from the one origi- 
 nally called Low's Well and the Sulphur Spring. 
 It is now the spring mostly resorted to, particu- 
 larly by those who take the water as a beverage, 
 or who desire its cathartic effect. 
 
 In the spring of 1827, an effort was made by 
 a number of enterprising individuals to explore,
 
 184 BALLSTON SPA. 
 
 by boring, the interior of the slate formation, with 
 a view to obtain a further supply of mineral 
 water at this place. To effect the object, a ma- 
 chine, invented for the purpose by Mr. Disbrow 
 of New-Jersey, was procured, and operations 
 w r ere commenced on the flat nearly opposite to 
 Aldridge's boarding house. The boring was be- 
 gun in the bottom of a public w r ell that had been 
 previously sunk to the depth of fourteen feet, 
 eight of which were in the rock. At the depth 
 of about eighty feet a vein of mineral w r ater was 
 discovered ; a tube was fitted to the hole in the 
 rock of sufficient length to extend a little above 
 the surface of the earth, and the water immedi- 
 ately rose to the top of this tube and escaped in 
 a copious stream, affording an ample supply of a 
 lively acidulous water. The excavation, how- 
 ever, was continued to the depth of one hundred 
 and thirty-seven feet, but without any considera- 
 ble addition to the water, either in quantity or 
 quality, except a slight sulphurous impregnation. 
 This spring has been named the New Washing- 
 ton Fountain. 
 
 Not long after the completion and establishment 
 of this fountain, a most singular incident occurred 
 that is thought worthy to be recorded. It explod- 
 ed, with a loud noise and with such force as to 
 throw the whole column of water contained in
 
 BALLSTOX SPA. 165 
 
 the well many feet into the air, leaving a distinct 
 sulphurous odour, which continued for some min- 
 utes diffused in the surrounding atmosphere. 
 The spring for a short time appeared entirely 
 empty ; but it soon filled again and resumed its 
 original appearance, and has ever since continued 
 to flow from a basin, which is now fixed to the 
 top of the fountain. It is somewhat singular, that 
 since the explosion, the sulphurous impregnation 
 of the water of this spring has nearly or quite dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 During the succeeding winter a similar experi- 
 ment of boring was made, with nearly similar re- 
 sults, in a place called The Park, a little west from 
 the Sans Souci and directly in the rear of the 
 Village Hotel. The rock was struck at the depth 
 of about thirty feet, through a bed of dark blue ar- 
 gillaceous marl. At about the same depth in the 
 rock as in the former instance, a vein of mineral 
 water was met with, very much resembling that 
 of the last described fountain. The boring, how- 
 ever, was continued to the depth of two hundred 
 and seventy feet, being about two hundred and 
 forty feet in the argillaceous or transition slate, 
 which at this place forms the bottom of the val- 
 ley in which all the above described springs arc- 
 situated.
 
 106 BALLS-TON SPA. 
 
 From the aperture thus formed, the water of 
 this fountain now flows in great abundance, rising 
 several feet above the surface of the earth, and 
 presenting a beautiful little pool, which is tasteful- 
 ly displayed in a small basin secured to the top of 
 the tube which conducts the water to the surface. 
 It is an acidulous chalybeate of the first order, and 
 must be regarded as an interesting and important 
 acquisition to the place. It has received the dis- 
 tinctive appellation of the Park Spring. 
 
 These waters evidently belong to the same class 
 with those already described at Saratoga^ and if 
 they do not contain quite so large a proportion of 
 the saline properties as some of the fountains at 
 the latter place, which is very manifest both from 
 the taste and the effects, they are unquestionably 
 entitled to rank among the best acidulous cha- 
 lybeate waters which this or any other country 
 affords. 
 
 In order to examine these waters analytically. 
 a quantity from each spring was secured at the 
 fountain in well stopped bottles, conveyed to the 
 place of examination, and immediately submitted 
 to the operation of tests. The whole of the exper- 
 iments, both to determine the properties and to 
 separate the different ingredients, were conduct- 
 ed in the same manner and upon the same princi-
 
 BALLSTON SPA. 107 
 
 pies as previously detailed in the examination of 
 the Congress water ; and the indications being in 
 all respects the same, there occurring no percep- 
 tible difference other than what would naturally 
 be supposed to result from the greater or less 
 quantity of the various articles held in solution 
 by each, it is not deemed necessary to recapitu- 
 late the dry details of these experiments in this 
 place. 
 
 A quantity of the gas was procured from the 
 water of each fountain, and submitted to the pro- 
 cess of examination in the same manner as here- 
 tofore related at page 95. It was found, like that 
 procured from the water at Saratoga Springs, to 
 consist of pure carbonic acid, with an admixture 
 of a small quantity of atmospheric air. 
 
 From repeated experiments on the water pro- 
 cured from the several springs at this place, there 
 can be no doubt that they all contain considerable 
 more than their bulk of carbonic acid gas ; but 
 riot having the necessary materials for making the 
 examinations on the spot, and the certainty that 
 the water parts with a considerable portion of 
 the gas from being bottled, however carefully it 
 may be done, no attempt was made to estimate 
 with accuracy the amount of its gaseous pro- 
 duct.
 
 168 BALLSTON SPA. 
 
 With these general remarks on the history, 
 properties and character of the mineral waters at 
 Ballston Spa, I shall now proceed to a particular 
 examination of some of the principal fountains, or 
 such as have from their medical properties ac- 
 quired the most celebrity.
 
 SANS SOUCI PRIXG. 
 
 THIS spring is situated immediately in the rear 
 of the Sans Souci, and is more familiarly known 
 by the name of " Jack's Spring." Its history has 
 been already related in the general remarks. Its 
 water is sparkling and acidulous, and its taste high- 
 ly chalybeate and somewhat saline. 
 
 The water from which the following analysis 
 was made was procured from the spring in the 
 fore part of the month of February, 1830, and 
 during the winter following, 1831, the examina- 
 tion was repeated on different quantities of the 
 water, with results perfectly corresponding. The 
 processes adopted for determining and separating 
 the various ingredients were the same in all re- 
 spects as those detailed in the examination of the 
 Congress water, a repetition of which is altogeth- 
 er unnecessary. 
 
 The temperature of the water at the bottom of 
 the well, at a time when the thermometer stood 
 in the open air at 20 dcg. above /ero, was 50 deg. 
 and its specific gravity at the temperature of 00 
 leg. was 1005.7, pure water being 1000.
 
 J70 SANS SOUCI SPRING. 
 
 One gallon, or 231 cubic inches, of the water 
 from this spring contains the following substan- 
 ces, viz. 
 
 Chloride of Sodium, 143.733 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Soda, 12.66 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Magnesia, 39.1 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 43.407 
 
 Carbonate of Iron, 5.95 
 
 Hydriodate of Soda, 1.3 
 
 Silix, 1. 
 
 Solid contents in a gallon, 247.15 grs. 
 
 I have omitted to mention the presence of the 
 hydro-bromatc of potash in the above enumeration 
 of the ingredients, because that substance is not 
 satisfactorily indicated in one gallon of the water, 
 as is the case with the same article in some of 
 the springs at Saratoga ; but 1 have no doubt, that 
 by concentrating a much larger portion of the wa- 
 ter, its presence might have been demonstrated. 
 This substance, together with that of the hydrio- 
 date of soda, seems in some way connected with 
 the marine salt, the quantity being increased or 
 diminished according as that salt is afforded in a 
 greater or less abundance. The hydriodate of 
 soda appears to be in the proportion of about 
 one to a hundred of the chloride of sodium, while
 
 BALLSTON SPA. 171 
 
 the proportion of the hydro-bromate of potasli is 
 much less, and is scarcely to be detected in those 
 waters that contain the greatest quantity of the 
 marine salt ; and in those which contain a much 
 less quantity, it can only be demonstrated by con- 
 centrating several gallons of the water.
 
 tOW'S SPRING. 
 
 THIS spring is situated near to the one just de- 
 scribed, and its appearance and sensible proper- 
 ties are certainly not very dissimilar to it. Its 
 specific gravity and its temperature, at the time I 
 examined them, were the same ; and as the appli- 
 cation of re-agents indicated no essential differ- 
 ence in their constituent properties, they may with 
 great propriety be presumed to be the same, or 
 very nearly the same water.
 
 PARK SPRING. 
 
 THIS fountain is situated in the immediate 
 neighborhood of the two last described springs, 
 in the rear of the Village Hotel. Its situation and 
 history have already been described. The spe- 
 cific gravity is considerably less than that of 
 either of the other two springs, and from the 
 analysis, it affords a much less quantity of all the 
 saline substances excepting the iron, with which 
 this water is undoubtedly saturated. From one 
 gallon I obtained 4.5 grains of the pure oxide of 
 iron, equivalent to 6| grains of the carbonate of 
 iron, (a quantity unexampled in any of the other 
 springs ;) and the water not holding so large a 
 quantity of the saline ingredients in solution, it 
 constitutes one of the purest and best simple aci- 
 dulous chalybeate waters which can any where 
 be found ; and in all cases where simple chaly- 
 beates alone are recommended, this water should 
 undoubtedly have the preference.
 
 THE PUBLIC WELL. 
 
 THIS spring is situated near the centre of the 
 village, on the flat ground nearly opposite to 
 Aldridge's late boarding house. It was formerly 
 the most distinguished of any which the place 
 afforded, and it was ornamented and secured with 
 a handsome iron paling and marble floor ; but un- 
 der an apprehension that the spring had suffered 
 in its properties from the great pressure occa- 
 sioned by these heavy stones, they have been re- 
 moved without benefiting the water, and certain- 
 ly without adding any thing to the beauty of the 
 place. 
 
 Notwithstanding that this spring has, within a 
 few years, suffered considerably in the estimation 
 of the public, it is still much used, and is undoubt- 
 edly an excellent chalybeate water. 
 
 It has been generally asserted that " Sir Wil- 
 liam Johnson, in conveying the land at this place 
 to individuals, reserved this spring for the benev- 
 olent purpose of serving the public." Where 
 this story came from originally is not easy to tell ; 
 it is certain that Sir William never owned any 
 land in the vicinity of either of the springs. The
 
 BALLSTOX SPA. 175 
 
 title under which the lands at this place are held 
 was obtained from the representatives of May 
 Bickley, one of the original patentees, over which 
 Sir William never had even the control of an 
 agency.
 
 THE NEW WASHINGTON SPRING. 
 
 Tins spring, like that last noticed, is situated 
 in the street, a few rods distant, in a southerly 
 direction. 
 
 The water submitted to an examination was 
 procured from the fountain in the month of Feb- 
 ruary, 1831, and different portions of it were 
 carefully examined under the same rules and reg- 
 ulations as already described. Its specific gravi- 
 ty is 1004.6, pure water being 1000, and its tem- 
 perature 51 deg. ; and one gallon contains the 
 following articles, viz. 
 
 Chloride of Sodium, 89.83 
 
 Bi-carbonate of Soda, 18.057 
 
 Bi- carbonate of Magnesia, 42.042 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 41.51 
 
 Ilydriodate of Soda, 0.7 
 
 Carbonate of Iron, 3.71 
 
 Silix and Alumine, 1.25 
 
 Solid contents in a gallon, gr. 197.099 
 
 This well when it was first opened emitted a 
 perceptible quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen, but
 
 BALLSTON SPA. 177 
 
 it has now nearly or quite disappeared, particu- 
 larly since the memorable event of its eruption, 
 as before noticed. The gas, which it now emits 
 in great abundance, is purely carbonic acid, pro- 
 bably combined with a small quantity of atmos- 
 pheric air. 
 
 All these waters, if drank in large quantities, 
 or taken by persons whose stomachs are rather 
 irritable, operate as an aperient, and at the same 
 time have a powerful effect as a diuretic, and are 
 of eminent service in all those chronic affections 
 where chalvbeate medicines are indicated.
 
 SULPHUREOUS WATERS. 
 
 BESIDES the acidulous saline chalybeate waters 
 so bountifully bestowed on this county, there are 
 several other mineral fountains of a different 
 character ; I allude to those springs which be- 
 long to the class termed sulphureous waters. 
 There are several of this class which occur in 
 the vicinity of the argillaceous slate formation, 
 and they very probably owe their origin to the 
 decomposition of the iron pyrites, or sulphuret of 
 iron which abounds in this rock. 
 
 By far the most interesting and important 
 spring belonging to this class is situated on the 
 east border of Saratoga Lake, on a farm belong- 
 ing to a Mr. Abel, about one mile south of Snake 
 Hill, at the bottom of a deep ravine, which opens 
 to the lake, and discloses a fine view of that 
 beautiful sheet of water. The well is situated 
 but a few yards from the beach ; the water rises 
 up through a bed of argillaceous marl, and diffu- 
 ses its sulphureous odour in the atmosphere to 
 some distance around. 
 
 The water is very limpid when first dipped, 
 but on standing some time it deposits a small
 
 SULPHUREOUS WATERS. 179 
 
 quantity of argillaceous earth, which when thrown 
 on ignited coals, exhibits evidences of sulphur. 
 This sediment is likewise deposited around the 
 spring and along the course of its current. 
 
 It has a strong sulphureous and footed smell, 
 nearly resembling that of bilge water, and it pos- 
 sesses an offensive nauseous taste ; it however 
 becomes more palatable after drinking it a few 
 times. 
 
 Strips of litmus paper plunged into this water 
 fresh from the spring are slightly reddened by it, 
 but the paper resumes its blue color on drying. 
 
 Characters traced on paper with a solution of 
 the acetate of lead, when plunged into water 
 fresh from the spring, become nearly black, and 
 they are made legible on suspending the paper a 
 few minutes over the fountain. 
 
 Polished silver is immediately tarnished by im- 
 mersing it in the water, and silver watches worn 
 in the pockets of those who are in the daily use 
 of it are said to be blackened by it. 
 
 The usual tests do not indicate the presence of 
 any metalic substance in this water, nor are 
 there any indications of lime, magnesia or marine
 
 180 SULPHUREOUS WATERS. 
 
 salt ; the constituent properties are purely sul- 
 phuretted hydrogen, together with a small quan- 
 tity of alumine, which is diffused in it, but not in 
 a sufficient quantity to render it turbid. 
 
 Its temperature is 48 deg. and its specific 
 gravity is but very little above that of pure 
 water. 
 
 Doctors Armstrong and Johnson have given 
 a new impulse to the use of sulphureous wa- 
 ters in the cure of visceral congestions and 
 chronic affections of the digestive organs ; and it 
 is highly probable that a free internal use of the 
 water of this spring, connected with some mild 
 laxative medicine, will be found highly servicea- 
 ble in a great variety of those afflictive complaints. 
 
 Baths might easily be constructed here, and 
 the water conducted directly into them from the 
 fountain, which produces a sufficient quantity for 
 a constant supply. Bathing in waters of this de- 
 scription has long been celebrated for its efficacy 
 in the cure of a great variety of eruptive and 
 other diseases of the skin ; and it is highly pro- 
 bable that this spring will ultimately become an 
 important appendage to the distinguished waters 
 of Saratoga and Ballston, from either of which it 
 is but a few miles distant, and the ride includes
 
 SULPHUREOUS WATERS. 181 
 
 all the variety of scenery presented by the lake 
 and it environs. 
 
 In the valley of one of the branches of the 
 Kayaderosseras creek, about two miles westerly 
 from the village of Saratoga Springs, is another 
 strongly scented sulphureous spring ; it rises per- 
 pendicularly from the earth in a stream sufficient 
 to turn a mill, at the bottom of a steep bank, 
 composed of sand, clay and coarse gravel. 
 
 The approach to this spring is discovered at 
 the distance of some yards, by the sulphureous 
 odour with which it impregnates the atmosphere. 
 The water is clear, and but triflingly agitated by 
 the escape of gas ; its taste is unpleasant, not un- 
 like the washings of a rusty gun barrel. It de- 
 posits a brown sediment, which marks its passage 
 to the creek, a distance of one hundred yards. 
 
 Its temperature is 50 deg. while that of a foun- 
 tain of pure water which issues from the same 
 bank in a horizontal direction, and within ten feet 
 of it, is at -10 dcg. 
 
 In addition to the sulphuretted hydrogen which 
 this water affords, it contains a small proportion 
 of carbonic acid gas, and is slightly impregnated 
 with marine salt, iron and lime. It is highly ex- 
 
 Q
 
 182 SULPHUREOUS WATERS. 
 
 tolled for its efficacy in the cure of eruptive dis- 
 eases, for which it is used, both internally and 
 externally ; but owing to its remote situation, and 
 the want of proper accommodations, it is but lit- 
 tle resorted to at present. 
 
 At Ballston Spa, situated within a few feet of 
 the Sans Souci fountain, there is a spring which 
 has received the name of the Sulphur Spring. 
 It is a weak, saline chalybeate, containing a small 
 quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which is 
 sufficiently apparent both from the smell and 
 taste. Its sulphureous impregnation, however, 
 *does not appear to be sufficient to make it very 
 important on that account. It is much used for 
 bathing, and is recommended and used in a great 
 variety of cutaneous affections.
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS 
 
 PROPERTIES 
 
 THE WATERS. 
 
 I shall conclude my remarks on the waters of 
 these fountains, by a few general observations on 
 their medical properties, and their application in 
 the various diseases for which they have become 
 so deservedly celebrated. 
 
 These waters are so generally used, and their 
 effects so seldom injurious, particularly to persons 
 in health, that almost every one who has ever 
 drank of them assumes the prerogative of direct- 
 ing their use to others ; and were these direc- 
 tions always the result of experience and obser- 
 vation, they would certainly be less objectiona- 
 ble ; but there are numerous persons who flock 
 about the springs during the drinking season, 
 without any knowledge of the composition of the
 
 184 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 waters, and little or none of their effects, who 
 contrive to dispose of their directions to the. igno- 
 rant and unwary, with no other effect than to in- 
 jure the reputation of the water and destroy the 
 prospects of the diseased. 
 
 Many persons who resort to the springs for the 
 restoration of health, seem to be governed by the 
 idea, that they are to recover in proportion to the 
 quantity they drink ; and, although many who 
 are in health may, and frequently do, swallow 
 down enormous quantities of the water with ap- 
 parent impunity, it by no means follows that those 
 whose stomachs are enfeebled by disease can 
 take the same quantity with the same effect. 
 Stomachs of this description frequently reject 
 large portions of the water, and thereby protect 
 the system from the disastrous consequences that 
 would otherwise follow. But when it happens 
 to be retained, the result is indeed distressing ; 
 the pulse becomes quick and feeble, the extremi- 
 ties cold, the head painful and dizzy, the bowels 
 swollen and tender, and the whole train of nerv- 
 ous affections alarmingly increased ; and should 
 the unfortunate sufferer survive the effects of his 
 imprudence, it is only to a renewal of his worst 
 apprehensions, from a loss of confidence in what 
 he most probably considered a last resort,
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 185 
 
 In directing the use of the waters, I shall con- 
 fine my remarks to a few observations on their 
 medical application, of a general character only ; 
 particular directions can only be given with safe- 
 ty to the patient from a careful investigation of 
 the particular symptoms, character and nature of 
 the complaint. 
 
 Among the great variety of invalids who re- 
 sort to the springs, none perhaps receive more 
 essential and effectual benefit from their use than 
 those usually termed BILIOIS. 
 
 In all those affections usually termed bilious, if 
 the attack be recent and unattended by any seri- 
 ous organic affection, it is most usually removed 
 in the course of a few days by a free use of the 
 Congress water alone ; but in those cases where 
 the functions of the stomach and bowels have be- 
 come impaired from the long continuace of the 
 disease, attended with anasarcus swellings of the 
 extremities, &c. although the waters of this foun- 
 tain may be resorted to with nearly the same as- 
 surance of obtaining relief, nevertheless more 
 caution is indispensably necessary in its adminis- 
 tration ; lor should a great quantity of the water 
 be drank without having the proper effect by the 
 bowels and kidneys, it is never beneficial, but on
 
 186 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 the contrary, frequently increases the most alarm- 
 ing symptoms of the complaint. 
 
 In cases of this description, I have long been in 
 the habit of recommending the addition of some 
 mild cathartic medicine ; and for this purpose a 
 few grains of calomel, or the blue pill, are direct- 
 ed to be taken over night, followed in the morn- 
 ing with a sufficient quantity of the water to 
 move the bowels briskly two or three times, with 
 the happiest effect. A few doses of this descrip- 
 tion usually puts the bowels in a situation to be 
 more easily w T rought upon by the water, and the 
 patient becomes convinced of its efficacy in his 
 disease from a few days proper application. 
 
 In the more advanced stages of bilious affec- 
 tions, where the organization of the liver and oth- 
 er viscera have materially suffered, and the dis- 
 position to general hi/drops, indicated by the en- 
 largement of the extremities, fullness of the abdo- 
 men, &c. the waters are all of them manifestly 
 injurious, and are not to be admitted, even as an 
 auxiliary remedy. 
 
 In all those functional affections of the organs 
 employed in the process of digestion, constituting 
 what is usually termed DYSPEPSIA, the waters
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 187 
 
 have long maintained a high and deserved repu- 
 tation. The Congress water is principally relied 
 on for the cure of these affections. This should 
 be taken in the morning, an hour or two before 
 breakfast, in sufficient quantity to move the bow- 
 els freely once or twice. In ordinary cases, four 
 or five tumblers full are sufficient for the purpose ; 
 and in weak irritable habits, half the quantity, or 
 a single tumbler full in some cases, is amply suf- 
 ficient to answer the purpose. 
 
 In those cases where the bowels are attended 
 with an habitual constipation, the large quantity 
 of water required to move them often produces 
 unpleasant distention of the stomach and bowels, 
 and by producing cold chills and nausea, frequent- 
 ly defeats the general intention of its application. 
 This, in some instances, may be remedied by 
 simply elevating the temperature of the water by 
 keeping it for some hours in well stopped bottles 
 in a warm room. When this fails, recourse may 
 be had to some suitable laxative, which should be 
 taken over night on going to bed ; and a much 
 less quantity of the water in the morning will an- 
 swer the wishes of the patient, without subjecting 
 him to any very great inconvenience. Or, if cir- 
 cumstances require a still greater effect, a little 
 epsom, or some other laxative salt, may be added
 
 188 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 to the first glass of the water. In this way the 
 difficulty will soon be overcome, when a much 
 less quantity of the water will be found to answer 
 the purpose. 
 
 But the Congress water is not alone to be de- 
 pended on for the removal of these affections : 
 when the stomach and bowels have been prop- 
 erly cleansed by the mild and innocent purgative 
 properties of this water, for which purpose it is 
 to be drank only in the morning, the remainder 
 of the day should be devoted to the moderate and 
 discreet use of some of the more pure chalybeate 
 waters : as that of the Flat Rock, Columbian, 
 High Rock, Ellis' Spring, or Ballston Spa. 
 
 The quantity of water from either of these 
 fountains, to be used daily, must necessarily de- 
 pend in a great measure on the state of the dis- 
 ease and the condition of the stomach. It is 
 therefore best to commence their use in small 
 quantities at a time, and at distant and regular 
 intervals ; gradually increasing the quantity and 
 frequency of the draught, as may be most agree- 
 ble to the stomach, and least unpleasant to the 
 feelings. In this way the quantity may be in- 
 creased to from one to two quarts ; and it is 
 questionable whether a much larger quantity may 
 be drank with any additional advantage.
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 189 
 
 The use of chalybeate medicines in the cure of 
 the deranged state of the digestive organs has sel- 
 dom been directed, except in conjunction with 
 laxatives of some kind ; and it is now a subject 
 of speculation with some of our best and well in- 
 formed practitioners, whether the cure might not 
 be as expeditiously effected by the judicious ad- 
 ministration of laxatives alone. It is certain that 
 three fourths of the cases usually termed dyspep- 
 tic, which congregate at these springs during the 
 drinking season, owe their origin to the ill-timed 
 administration of chalybeates and other tonic 
 remedies, prescribed for the purpose of bracing 
 up what was supposed to be a debilitated stom- 
 ach ; or in more familiar terms, " to wind tip a 
 run down constitution" 
 
 ' From long and unbiassed observation," says 
 the venerable Doct. Armstrong, " I am fully con- 
 vinced that most of the medicines called tonics 
 arc either useless or pernicious ; and if these 
 were erased from the pharmacopoeias, it would 
 be a real benefit to the profession and mankind ; 
 for they only serve to mislead the former, and to 
 tantalize or injure the latter. Tonic medicines 
 generally oppress the digestive functions, or ope- 
 rate as direct stimulants, and in cither case they 
 are improper in convalescence : for by the first
 
 190 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 they may destroy the natural appetite, and by the 
 last they may lead to chronic inflammations. So 
 far from such drugs being appropriate to a stage 
 of convalescence from acute disease, mild laxa- 
 tives are most frequently requisite to preserve a 
 right balance between the ingesta and the eges- 
 ta ; and the practitioner who substitutes the for- 
 mer will find that his patients will pass better 
 through convalescence, and be afterwards far less 
 subject to consecutive attacks of inflammation." 
 These remarks are so much in accordance with 
 my own experience and observation, that I could 
 not forego the oppportunity of transcribing them 
 here. 
 
 But whether the tonic medicines be or be not 
 appropriate in the cure of the deranged state of 
 the digestive organs, it is certain that the quanti- 
 ty of iron found in the water of those fountains 
 which contain the largest proportion of that arti- 
 cle, is quite too trifling to merit a serious consid- 
 eration as a remedy in any disease. That the 
 waters possess powerful stimulating and exciting 
 powers cannot be disputed ; but whether this 
 property be owing to the small portion of iron, 
 as is usually supposed, which enters into its com- 
 position, may very rationally be doubted.
 
 PKACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 191 
 
 Conjoined with the internal use of the waters, 
 bathing should not be neglected ; its exhilerating 
 effect upon the surface of the body contributes 
 much to the restoration of the vigor and strength 
 
 O O 
 
 of the stomach. The cold shower bath should al- 
 ways be preferred where the energy of the circu- 
 lation is sufficient to overcome the effects of the 
 cold, and produce the sensation of warmth over 
 the surface immediately after its application ; 
 where this sensation is not produced, the cold bath 
 should be dispensed with, and the tepid or warm 
 bath substituted in its stead, together with gene- 
 ral friction with a flesh brush or coarse flannel 
 over the whole body. 
 
 The stimulating effects of these waters, arising 
 from their saline and gaseous properties, give them 
 a decided preference over any other as a bath ; 
 and those who are laboring undet a deficient or 
 irregular action of the cutaneous vessels, arising 
 either from a sympathetic affection with a diseas- 
 ed stomach, or from an original affection of the 
 vessels themselves, will find it to their advantage 
 to persevere in its use under this form. 
 
 The idea of bathing before sunrise or early in 
 the morning is entirely wrong. Before bathing, 
 the system should always be invigorated by the 
 effect of moderate exercise and a nutricious re-
 
 192 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 past. The hour of ten or eleven in the forenoon 
 is therefore the most suitable time for its applica- 
 tion. 
 
 In CALCULOUS and NEPHRITIC complaints the 
 waters have long been celebrated for their effica- 
 cy, and numerous well attested instances of their 
 good effects can be produced, where the disease 
 was not only benefitted, but effectually cured. 
 In these cases, the subjects of them, after using 
 the water for some weeks, voided large quantities 
 of sand and small gravel, and have since felt no 
 symptoms of the return of the complaint. 
 
 The waters that would seem to promise most 
 in these diseases are those which contain the great- 
 est quantity of the cer cited alkali, but they have 
 usually been drank indiscriminately for this pur- 
 pose, without reference to any particular fountain ; 
 it is therefore probable that the carbonic acid, 
 together with the carbonated earths, add some- 
 thing to the lithontriptic properties of these wa- 
 ters. 
 
 They should be drank in such quantities as to 
 keep the bowels open, arid repeated sufficiently 
 often to keep up an increased secretion by the 
 kidneys.
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 193 
 
 The warm bath, as an auxiliary to the internal 
 use of the waters, is of much importance ; it great- 
 ly facilitates the passage of the ragged fragments 
 of gravel which sometimes take place from the 
 effect of this remedy. Its temperature should be 
 from 100 to 110 deg. and the length of time 
 proper for continuing it should be from one to 
 two hours. 
 
 In CHRONIC RHEUMATISM, tllC VirtUCS of tllG 
 
 waters were known, and celebrated, by the abo- 
 rigines ; and the observations of more modern 
 visitants have tended greatly to confirm the good 
 opinion entertained by the original proprietors. 
 The Congress water has the most celebrity in this 
 disease : it should be taken in the morning, in suf- 
 ficient quantities to move the bowels two or three 
 times, and followed by moderate draughts of some 
 of the other fountains ; and, in most instances, the 
 shower bath will add much to the efficacy of the 
 water. Following this course for a length of time 
 gradually relaxes the rigidity of the muscles, adds 
 strength and facility of motion to the diseased 
 joints, and restores ease and vigor to the whole 
 system. 
 
 The ANTHRITIS, or GOUT, has but seldom ap- 
 peared at the Springs. Whether this absence is 
 to be imputed to the few cases that, compara- 
 ii
 
 194 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 lively speaking, occur in our country, or to a pre- 
 vailing opinion that the use of the waters would 
 be injurious, is uncertain. If, ho we vet, one may 
 be allowed to judge from the few cases which 
 have appeared at the waters, there is some reason 
 to believe they may prove highly serviceable, 
 particularly in the incipient or forming stage of the 
 complaint ; but in those cases where the disease 
 has become confirmed, and the system, for a long 
 time, has been subjected to a course of powerful 
 stimulants, the operation of the waters is more 
 doubtful ; and indeed several instances have oc- 
 curred where their use evidently tended to invite 
 a recurrence of the paroxysms. 
 
 In PHAGEDEMC, Or ILL-CONDITIONED ULCERS 
 
 of the extremities, perhaps no application has ev- 
 er been attended with more effectual benefit in a 
 variety of these affections than a free use of the 
 waters ; but the various forms and circumstances 
 under which this afflictive complaint presents it- 
 self require particular attention, as they form the 
 only criterion for a proper application of this high- 
 ly useful remedy. 
 
 Persons afflicted with obstinate and painful CU- 
 TANEOUS ERUPTIONS derive great and important 
 benefit from a properly directed course of bathing 
 and drinking. And in that peculiarly relaxed and
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 195 
 
 enfeebled state of the system arising from a long 
 protracted mercurial course, the water connected 
 with the air and exercises of the country, has ne- 
 ver failed of proving an efficacious and speedy 
 restorative. 
 
 SCROFULA is another disease for which those 
 who are afflicted with it frequently become appli- 
 cants to the waters, and experience has abund- 
 antly sanctioned the belief of their utility in that 
 complaint. 
 
 Before the discovery of Iodine in these waters, 
 their operation in the cure of strumous affections 
 was considered as somewhat mysterious, but 
 since that substance has been demonstrated as 
 forming one of the constituent ingredients in the 
 water, the mystery has been solved, and the wa- 
 ters are now prescribed in these affections with a 
 confidence which the important and active prop- 
 erties of this interesting article is calculated to 
 inspire. 
 
 As Iodine is a substance which has been recent- 
 ly introduced into the list of valuable remedies, a 
 short notice of its history and medical character 
 will not be uninteresting, particularly to the gene- 
 ral reader.
 
 196 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 This singular and interesting article was first 
 discovered by a manufacturer of saltpetre at Pa- 
 ris, no longer ago than 1812. In washing the car- 
 bonate of soda from the ashes of sea-weeds, he 
 observed that the residual liquor corroded the 
 metalic vessels in which it was standing, and on 
 the addition of sulphuric acid he obtained a dark 
 coloured precipitate, which was converted into a 
 beautiful violet coloured vapour by the application 
 of heat. Some of this substance was put into 
 the hands of M. Clement, a distinguished chemist 
 of Paris, who soon recognized it as a new body ; 
 and in 1813 he first described it in the royal insti- 
 tution of France. Sir Humphrey Davy, Gay 
 Lussac, and a number of other distinguished chem- 
 ists, have subsequently investigated its chemical 
 habitudes, and determined its real nature. 
 
 Iodine, in a pure state at the ordinary tempera- 
 ture of the atmosphere, is a soft, friable, opaque 
 solid, of a bluish black colour, somewhat resem- 
 bling plumbago. It occurs usually in crystalline 
 scales ; it sublimes rapidly at a temperature even 
 below that of boiling water ; and it suffers a grad- 
 ual dissipation at a still lower temperature. Its 
 vapour is of a rich violet colour, from which cir- 
 cumstance it has received the name of IODINE. 
 It has a very acrid taste, and a strong offensive 
 odour. It acts with creat enenrv on the animal
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 197 
 
 system, but may be employed with advantage as 
 a medicine in very small doses. 
 
 It unites chemically with oxygen and hydro- 
 gen, forming the iodic and hydriodic acids ; and 
 these, when united with the alkaline, or earthy ba- 
 sis, constitute the iodates, or hydriodates ; and in 
 one or other of these forms it is usually met with 
 in nature. 
 
 The hydriodic acid combined with potassa or 
 soda, has been detected in many of the brine and 
 other mineral springs of Europe. It has likewise 
 been found in sea-water, and a number of ma- 
 rine animals ; it is contained in sponge, and a 
 great variety of sea-weed ; and its existence in 
 the waters of Saratoga and Ballston Spa, in the 
 state of the hydriodate of soda, has been satisfac- 
 torily demonstrated. 
 
 As a medicine, Iodine is now believed to pos- 
 sess great and important qualities ; and it has been 
 introduced as a remedy in the cure of almost eve- 
 ry species of chronic affection. It is supposed to 
 exert a special influence over the absoi-bcnt or lym- 
 phatic system ; and in goitre and scrofula, as well 
 as all other indolent enlargement of the glands, it 
 lias maintained a high and deserved reputation. 
 And it is unquestionably owing to the presence of 
 
 K*
 
 198 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 this substance that the mineral waters of Sarato- 
 ga are indebted for their great efficacy in the cure 
 of strumous affections. 
 
 The fountain which contains the largest pro- 
 portion of the hydriodate of soda should, without 
 doubt, be selected by the invalid laboring under 
 these afflictions. The water should be commen- 
 ced in small doses, and the quantity gradually in- 
 creased, as the stomach will bear it ; and its use 
 should be continued, at least, through the summer 
 months. There are but few of this description 
 who have not received advantage, and numerous 
 instances might be adduced where the less seri- 
 ously affected have perfectly recovered from a 
 proper course of bathing and drinking. 
 
 BROMINE* is another substance that has lately 
 been discovered as entering into the composition 
 of these waters ; and it is not improbable, from 
 
 * This substance was discovered in sea-water, by a French 
 chemist in 1826. It is in a liquid state at the common tempe- 
 rature of the atmosphere ; its color is a blackish red ; its odour 
 is disagreeable, and its taste powerful. It acts with energy on 
 organic substances and corrodes the animal texture. It has 
 been detected in most of the substances in which iodine has 
 been found. It exists in sea-water in the state of the hydro- 
 bromatc of magnesia, and in the waters of this place it is in the 
 slate of the hydro-broiuate of potassa.
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATION'S. 199 
 
 the highly active properties which it is known to 
 possess, that in conjunction with iodine, it contri- 
 butes to the efficacy of the water in its operation 
 on scrofulus and enfeebled habits; but the ex- 
 tremely minute quantity in which it is found for- 
 bids the idea of attaching much importance to its 
 presence. 
 
 In DROPSY, arising from organic derangement 
 of long continuance, the waters are manifestly in- 
 jurious, as they invariably increase the swelling, 
 and add to the sufferings of the patient ; but in re- 
 cent cases, where the affection arises simply from 
 a deficient action in the absorbent vessels, the wa- 
 ter has a singular effect in removing it. It should 
 be drank in the morning freely, so as to produce 
 a copious discharge from the bowels; and through 
 the day taken in such quantities as to keep up a 
 pretty constant discharge of urine. The bloating 
 is relieved immediately, and a proper continuance 
 of the water will finally establish the permanency 
 of the cure. 
 
 In PARALYSIS, the waters have been usually 
 serviceable. The purgative properties of the Con- 
 gress render it the most applicable to this disease; 
 and its good efiects are much increased by the 
 use of the bath.
 
 200 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 In CHLOROSIS, and a variety of other complaints 
 peculiar to the female sex, the waters maintain a 
 high and deserved reputation. In most of these 
 cases the bowels should be kept open, by the use 
 of the more purgative waters ; and those of a less 
 purgative character should be persevered in for 
 a length of time. Their good effects will be much 
 accelerated by frequent bathing and moderate 
 exercise. 
 
 " The general operation of chalybeates," says 
 Dr. Saunders, in his treatise upon the mineral 
 waters of Europe, " is to increase the power of the 
 secretory system in a gradual uniform manner, 
 and at the same time, by the permanency of their 
 stimulus or some other cause with which we are 
 not well acquainted, to impart a gentle and salu- 
 tary increase to the body of strength, tone, ner- 
 vous energy and general vigor of all the functions. 
 It is therefore chiefly in chronic disorders, in those 
 that arise from slow beginnings and are attended 
 with great laxity and debility of the solids, but 
 without much organic disease, that these waters 
 are found to be particularly useful." 
 
 In PHTHISIS, and indeed all other pulmonary 
 affections, arising from a primary disease of the 
 lungs, the waters are evidently injurious, and man- 
 ifestly tend to increase the virulence of the dis-
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 201 
 
 ease. Their use, therefore, in these complaints, 
 as well as in all acute or inflammatory diseases, 
 should be strictly prohibited. 
 
 The season of the year most suitable for drink- 
 ing the waters is often made a subject of earnest 
 inquiry. The summer months, or during the pre- 
 valence of warm weather, is undoubtedly the 
 most suitable time for their use, as cold drinks are 
 then far more agreeable, both to the stomach and 
 palate; and all the secretions and excretions of 
 the system, in ordinary cases, are then more read- 
 ily and effectually operated on by the effects of 
 remedial agents. But what is of still more im- 
 portance, tho summer season is more particularly 
 adapted to a free and unrestrained exercise in the 
 open air ; without which a long course of the wa- 
 ters would be of but little avail. 
 
 The grout number of visitants who frequent 
 these watering places during the season for drink- 
 ing, arc no doubt a source of considerable income 
 to the country : but the annual increase of poor 
 inrnlnh. who flock here from all parts of the Uni- 
 ted Slates, and an: solely dependant upon private 
 munificence for their subsistence, is an evil that 
 bcirifisto be seriously felt, not only by the inhabi- 
 tants, but by strainers, whoso benevolence, while 
 here, i^ dailv laid under contribution for the sup-
 
 202 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 port of some poor object, who is struggling to ob- 
 tain from bountiful nature a renovation of health 
 which he has lost, perhaps in the service of his 
 country. This evil can only be properly remedi- 
 ed by an interference of the general government ; 
 and I cannot omit this opportunity to remind those 
 whose business it may be, that the endowment of 
 a small hospital at this place, under proper regula- 
 tions, would be attended with more beneficent ef- 
 fects, and would tend more to ameliorate the con- 
 dition of suffering humanity, than the appropria- 
 tion of an equivalent sum in any other way. 
 
 Much interest has been excited on the subject 
 of the source of these singular and interesting 
 waters, but no researches have as yet satisfacto- 
 rily unfolded the mystery. The large proportion 
 of common salt found among their constituent 
 properties may be accounted for without much 
 difficulty, all the salt springs of Europe as well as 
 those of America being found in geological situa- 
 tions exactly corresponding to these ; but the 
 production of the unexampled quantity of carbonic 
 acid gas, and the medium through which the other 
 articles are principally retained in solution, is yet, 
 and probably will remain, a subject of mere spec- 
 ulation. The low and regular temperature of the 
 water seems to forbid the idea that it is the effect 
 of subterranean heat, as many have supposed,
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 203 
 
 and the total absence of any mineral acid, except- 
 ing the marine which is combined with soda, does 
 away the possibility of its being the effect of any 
 combination of that kind. Its production is there- 
 fore trulv unaccountable.
 
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