The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-17 00:00:00

FRENCH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.;

After M. Leverrier's statement concerning the!
comet, which we gave on Wednesday last, the most 1
interesting
communication received at the last
sitting was that of M. Guyon, on the hot springs of
-1)1311 Shater, in the regency of Tunis. The village
°l' that name stands on the site of Utica, where Cato
Al. Fuyon is the first European who visited
these springs, which he did in 1850, being attracted
t 0
the spot by a group of women, who were sitting
around them, and calling out " Alio° ! Alio° !"
u 3):, Which they meant to invite a large tortoise
,k-iyde le rose to come to them. This creature
has been living there from time immemorial, and
is therefore in odour of sanctity among the in-
habitants. M. Guyon saw it again alive and well
,411856. The women of the locality go daily to
feed it, when it comes out of its retreat, and
allows itself to be taken up without difficulty.
The springs rise at the foot of a palm tree, north
(f Bon-S hater, forming a basin about two metres
i)
i"tt,..,odiameterl whence the waste water spreads out
13' , the ad joining ground for want of a regular
and forms a marsh of some extent, covered
kith reeds and other plants peculiar to this sort
o soil. The inhabitants wash their linen and
XoolEial in this water, and their cattle drink of it
3'• Czsar mentions these springs in his Corn-
)2tar2es stating at the same time that they.
lib „ the ground marshy.
.(De Bello Cloth,
b' 11, 24). At that time Utica lay
.on the. seat-
fro While it is now about three miles distant
f The water itself is clear, and has no
ar„tte ; the inhabitants use it for their drink,.es
ztet having let it cool. Its temperature varies,
cent ding to the season, between 36 and 40 deg.
lirngrade (95 and 104 Fehr.) It contains sods,
magnesia, and traces of iron and phosphorus;
in the most remarkable ingredient is arsenic acid,
Nchr,! contains f arseniates of potash and soda, of
er-e,," it as much as one-sixth of its weight.
of til;again the identity of these springs with those
soidi"ca is confirmed, since Appianus states that the
drt,„*.ejs of Curio, having encamped on this site, and
ate'. of these waters, were seized with vomiting,
hist °tiler symptoms of poisoning; nor does the
the °h..rian at all hesitate to ascribe these effects to
Aoisa—Lalignity of the inhabitants, who, he says,
counted the wells. But how can the fact be ac-
co%"rd for that at the present day these waters
*ase-81.7. ne inconvenience to the inhabitants, who
ticTem freely M. Guyon enters into some dis-
h 'vs; Cltt this point, and observes that these springs,
a ;pi g, 118 is not unfrecinently the case, shifted their
119.°61-;" ~sinee the time of the Romans, in copse
th11:11;°;1°` some earthquake or other convulsion. of
Prer,-„c), may have formerly been much more im-
sn 'gated with arsenic than at present. We would.
Wagest also that habit may have rendered the in-
cisei,tar4B Proof to the poison, arsenic being pres:
to J,ooe of those to which the body may get accu.
; witness the arsenic-eaters of Hungary, vpsn.
o
the
"drug in order to acquire a florid complexion.
1.1.:1? Roman soldiers, being new comers, could n
drinlti? be attacked with alarming
thE, • Ing such waters as those described: whereas
symptoms on
ante of that period may on'the contrary,
'g those of the present, have found them beneficial,