The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1872-02-17
ACIDULOUS SPRINGS,

Water charged with such quantities or
| carbonic acid as to cause them to spark.
and effervesce as they flow from the sprinc.
are called acidulous. Owing to the solvent
power of this acid upon limestones an
some other rocks, such waters gene
ally hold considerable quantities of limc.
magnesia and iron in solution, in the forlu
of bicarbonates; when the latter is presen.
In quantities of gxain or more to the ga
lon, the spring is called a chalybeate, frol.
the name of an ancient people who workt,
in iron at an early day, the Chalybes.-
These waters often contain considerabi,
quantities of chloride of sodium, and fire.
quently bromide and iodide of sodium a.
we'll as bicarbonates of soda and lithia.
Such is the character of the most eel,
brated mineral waters in this country, IT,
we'll known springs of Saratoga and Bal,
ston in New York State. These water.
are so we'll known to you that will tax
the liberty Of dwelling upon their pecula.-
tiles for few moments. In the fist place
l will call your attention to this section o:
the Saratoga valley, which shows you til,
position of the rocky strata there:
Beginning with the uppermost, the rocl
Of Saratoga county are: 1. The Hudso:
river and Utica shales and states; 9. TIL
Trenton limestone; 3. The calciferon
sand rock, which is a silicious limestone :.
4. The Potsdam sandstone; and, S. TIL
Laurentian formation, of gneiss and granite
of unknown thickness. The northern
lalf Of the county is occupied by the ele
waited ranges Of Laurentian rocks; fankine
these occur the Potsdam, calciferous, anG
Trenton beds, which appear in succession
in parallel bands through the central part
Of the county. These are covered in the
southern half of the county by the Utica
and Hudson river states and shales. The
most remarkable feature is, however, the
break orvertical fissure which occurs in
The Saratoga valley.
The mineral waters probably underlie
The southern half of the entire county,
many hundred feet below the surface, tho
accident of the fault determining their
appearance as springs in the valley of Sar-
ltoga Springs, where, by virtue of the
greater elevation of their distant source,
hey reach the surface through crevices in
che rocks produced by the fracture.
Their common origin is also shown by
analysis; all the springs contain the same
constituents in essentially the same order
IF abundance; they differ in the degree of
concentration merely Those from the
deepest strata are the most concentrated.
The constituents to which the taste of the
water and its most immediate medicinal
fleet are due, are: chloride of sodium,
bicarbonate of lime, bicarbonate of mag
nesia, bicarbonate of soda, and free car
bonic acid. Other important, though less
speedily active, constituents are: bicarbon-
.te of iron, bicarbonate of lithia, iodide of
sodium, and bromide of sodium.
During the great petoleum excitement,
New York capitalist conceived the idea
Of finding oil at Ballston; so he selected a
pot on the margin of the Kayaderosseras
creek, stream which flows through the
village of Ballston into Saratoga lake.
Here this patient but ill advised seeker after
petroleum bored down through sand, clay,
and hard pan, fifty-six feet, till he struck
the solid rock. He tubed the well down to
the rock with an iron tube six inches in
diameter, and then continued the boring
with a five inch drill. For considerable
distance the drill passed through the hud-
son river shales; then it penetrated the
Trenton limestone, then the calciferous
sand rock, and probably passed some dis
lance into the Potsdam sandstone. At
depth of 81 feet, a vein of mineral water
ourst into the well, but, as oil was the
object of the search, it was not needed
Finally, our Jealous borer was spared
further labor in this direction by the steel
feamer, which became SO firmly fastened
in the rock; at the depth of 651 feet, that
1t could not be extricated. No oil making
is appearance, and further progress in the
we'll being out Of the question, attention
was directed to the mineral water, when
it was found that the most remarkable
water of the county had been discovered.
While the strongest natural springs of the
county contain from 900 to 800 grains of
mineral matter per gallon, this water con-
tanned over 1900 grains. 1t is so concen-
trated that it will actually bear dilution
with an equal volume of Croton water,
which is more than one can say of our city
milk, though the experiment is often made
by the milkmen.
Like the enterprise of sending warming
pans to Cuba, this venture turned out an
unexpected success. The we'll is now
known as the Ballston artesian lithia
Spring" Soon after, the 4" Franklin " and
"Conde- Dentonian " wells were bored at
Ballston, and more recently the "Geyser
spouting we'll" at Saratoga. All these
have been successful in bringing up very
concentrated waters of the same chemical
character as the natural springs. 1t is
probable, there, that water can be obtained
anywhere in the southern portions of the
county by tapping the underlying Potsdam
sandstone. In all of these wells, the wa
ter rises to and above the surface Down
in the rock reservoir, the water is charged
with gases under great pressure. As the
water is forced to the serface, the pressure
diminishes and a portion of gas escapes
with effervescence. The wells deliver,
therefore, enormous volumes of gas with
the water, perfect suds of water, carbon
ic acid, and carburetted hydrogen.
Professor ChDrles F. Chandler.
A FREEDMAN's HYMN.-A Southern
friend, who is curious in his observations