The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1888-11-22
MINERAL WATERS.
4 Difference Between the Natural spd
ArtIficially Produced Article.

. difference Between shs NeeufA ono
Artifcfally Produced Article.
The greater part of these waters in
heir natural state, and all OF tho
manufactured waters, are more or less
highly charged with carbonic acid gas;
while some OF the imported waters re-
ceive an extra charge Of it before they
are packed, with view to increasing
their permanency anb their brilliancy.
And here I must apprise my readers
that we are in the border territory be-
tween two wal ring clans, the bianchi
and the neri OF balneology. Natural
mineral waters" is the war cry of the
one; artificial mineral waters" is
wrought upon the orihamme OF the
other. The contest RACES, and will
continue as long as rival interests
clash.
The merits OF the case on either hand
may be briefly stated. The opponents
of artifi cial mineral waters claim that
the delicacy Of the chemical combna-
tions in a natural water can not be re-
produced either with accuracy or with
any degree of certainty in the labcra-
tory. Analysis, they say, very truly,
can discover all the chemical elements
that are present; but how, in any
given water, are those acids and bases
combined, and how can we recombine
them' The chemist can not Away,
dissolve in water the mineral deposits
of spring or river water; there are
silicates and alumina that will resist
even the acids he employs 1t is not
possible, in many cases, to reproduce
natures combinations in the artificial
waters. and for other reasons than
those that have given. We can not
know the order in which the ingre-
lients were drawn from the channels
Of the living rock, nor the degrees OF
pressure and OF heat that were re-
Quired for their delicate commingling.
In word, art is not nature; and you
can no more reproduce the subtle
| potency of fine mineral water than
you can manufacture fine wine.
What is the rejOinder to this on the
part OF the advocates Of artificial min
| eral waters.
They say that while the argument I
have just given is good chemistry, it
does not hold good of imported min
eral waters; it is true only OF mineral
waters taken at their natural source;
while for the home consumer 1t is not
question of waters as they are attheir
source The mineral waters Of the
market are more or less changed By
expectation and handling, and in many
cases they are purposely medicated, rs
by the addition of salts, or a carbonlc
acid gas. "All waters begin to depre-
| ciate as soon as they are moved from
the spring" writes an importer. not
manufacturer, of mineral waters. Now
which is the better' say the chem
lists; a water that has been freighted,
perhaps, three thousand miles. and
kept in stock for months, undergoing
unknown changes all the time, or
fresh artificial water OF definitely
known constitutions The chemist does
not claim to reproduce all Of the for
eign or domestic mineral waters, but
such only as can be uniformly and GER
tainly reproduced. Carbonic acid gas,
the salts Of lime, the chloride of So
dium, alkalies, and other leading in
gradients Of the most valuable waters
are easily and accurately combinable
in the laboratory. Such products, it is
claimed, are better than the imported
waters, because they are fresher, and
because we know precisely what they
are.
That they are good there is no doubt
Pure carboniC acid water, as | have
said, is the same thing and equally
good however produced. The artificial
Vichy and Seltzer are good. Though
the native waters at the spring are bet
ter, none the less the artificial waters
are valuable resources for the physi-
clan, and also, as have said, as or
dinary beverages. Each has an excel
ent function. There is so much truth
on both sides of the question that one
need not quarrel over it. Both the i'm
porters and the manufacturers OF min
eral waters have room enough, and
are supplying good and useful commol-
ities and in what | shall say about
their curative values l shall not stop
to distinguish between the two classes
OF them when both are to be had. -
DR.. Titus N. Coan, in Harper's Maga-
zine.