Mineral springs of North America : how to reach, and how to use them

MINERAL SPRINGS

NORTH AMERICA.

^Tf^-m^-"-^

m^t^^r

MINERAL SPRINGS

NORTH AMERICA;

HOW TO REACH, AND HOW TO USE THEM.

J. J. MOORMAN, M.D.,

Physician to the White Sulphur Springs ; Professor of Medical Jurisprudence

and Hygiene in Washington University, Baltimore; Member of

the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Marj'land ; of the

Baltimore Medical Association, etc.

PHILADELPHIA:

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1873-

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by

J. J. MOORMAN, M.D.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

Lippincott's Press,
Philadelphia.

TO

THOSE FOR WHOM I HAVE PRESCRIBED MINERAL WATERS FOR
THE LAST THIRTY-FIVE YEARS,

THIS VOLUME,

INTENDED TO DEFINE THE CHARACTER AND APPLICABILITIES
OF THE MINERAL WATERS OF AMERICA, IS
RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY

THE AUTHOR.

(S)

TO THE PUBLIC.

For more than thirty-five years I have given special
attention to the investigation of the nature and medi-
cinal applicability of mineral waters. During this time
I have resided, throughout the watering season, at the
White Sulphur Springs, where, in the character of phy-
sician to the springs, I have enjoyed ample opportuni-
ties of witnessing the various and modified effects of
the water in almost every variety of disease and state
of the system.

Although my attention, during this time, has been
particularly directed to the investigation of the char-
acter of the water of that spring, I have not neglected
the other valuable waters of the country, nor failed per-
sonally to observe and appreciate their various peculi-
arities, and their relative and positive merits.

While my position has enabled me to witness the
virtues of mineral waters in diseases, it has, at the
same time, fully satisfied me not only that their good
effects are often lost, but that consequences highly in-
jurious frequently result from their injudicious use.

Impressed with the importance of arresting the abuse
of the White Sulphur waters, and of leading to a more

(7)

8 TO THE PUBLIC.

correct administration of them, I published, in 1839,
a pamphlet designed as a "Directory" for the use of
these waters. It was with diffidence I undertook this
pioneer effort in a field so entirely unexplored ; for, al-
though thousands of invalids had, for more than half a
century, annually resorted to these waters, up to the
period of issuing the " Directory" not a line had ever
been published relative to their medicinal applica-
bility, or the proper methods of prescribing them.

Satisfied from experience that the little ^_^^r/ alluded
to was not without beneficial effects in guiding to a
more prudent use of the waters, I published, in 1846,
a small volume entitled "Virginia Springs," designed
to embrace what was then known of the various mineral
springs in Virginia.

In 1 85 5 , and again in 1 85 7, new and enlarged editions
of the work were issued. In 1859, the previous editions
having been exhausted, a new one, much enlarged, and
embracing not only the Virginia Springs, but also the
springs of the Southern and Western States, was issued,
under the title of the " Virginia Springs and Springs of
the South and West." This was followed, in 1867, by a
larger and more comprehensive volume, entitled ^' Min-
eral Spri?igs of the United States and Catiada." Since
the publication of that work, important mineral waters
in various parts of the United States have come into
practical use ; some possessing medicinal applicabili-
ties of admitted value, and many claiming valuable
therapeutic powers that make them worthy of general
notice. These facts, in connection with the obviously
growing importance in the public mind of mineral

ro THE PUBLIC. g

waters generally as remedial agents, and the suggestion
of many kind friends, induce me to bring out the present
volume, under the title of " Mineral Springs of North
America^

A gratifying public appreciation and generous de-
mand for my previous volumes, encourage me to hope
that the present one will be an acceptable addition to
our very limited spring literature.

In a notice so extensive of mineral fountains, with
the exception of those of which I have a personal
knowledge, I have necessarily had to depend largely
upon the observations and writings of others ; and, in
this connection, I desire to express my obligations es-
pecially to the labors of my esteemed friend. Dr. Bell,
of Philadelphia, from whose works and correspondence
I have derived important facilities.

In treating of springs as medicinal agents (and it is
in that point of view only that I have proposed to treat
of them), it has been my earnest effort to present them
before the public in an aspect as full and impartial as
was possible. So far as the author's personal knowledge
and experience, or reliable information obtained from
other sources, have enabled him to do so, he has dis-
charged the task with fidelity.

In some instances reliable analyses have not been
made of some mineral fountains whose rising impor-
tance deserves such chemical test. Nor have these foun-
tains, as yet, furnished, from observation, such record
of their adaptations as is desirable in forming a proper
appreciation of their merits ; hence, in reference to the
precise quality and adaptations of such springs, we are

lO TO THE PUBLIC.

necessarily left to inferences based upon analogies and
somewhat uncertain comparisons.

The absence of an analysis of a mineral W9,ter is less
to be regretted if a fair and reliable record of its
virtues and appropriate medical uses be obtained ; for
it is only by multiplied facts, that is, by experience of
its use, that we can speak positively of its effects. This
being so, it is of especial importance that there should
be an intelligent resident physician at each fountain,
who would make it his duty carefully to note the char-
acter of the various diseases submitted to its use, and
the effects of the water upon each case. Under such a
system, each fountain would soon establish a reliable
record for itself; the invalid would be greatly assisted in
his selection of the proper agent to which he should
resort, and the just character of each water be properly
understood, and placed upon a firm and stable founda-
tion. This field of observation offers large and exciting
motives to a proper medical ambition ; for such, as a
general thing, has hitherto been the wild and hap-
hazard empiricism in the use of mineral waters in
America, and such is the importance of so classifying
and systemizing their uses that they may be prescribed
understandingly and safely, that he who may contrib-
ute to this end, and thus render them the safe, certain,
and effective remedies they were designed to be by a
beneficent Providence, may well feel that he has neither
lived nor labored in vain in his generation.

I will only add that I have endeavored, in getting
up this work, to adhere to the plain, unassuming, prac-
tical method, which was, I think, a characteristic dis-

TO THE PUBLIC. u

tinction of my previous volumes, and perhaps their
chief merit.

It has been my earnest desire to place in the hands
of the public, and especially of invalids, a short and
easy, but a condensed and comprehensive, account of
the mineral springs of the American continent, and to
indicate with candor, and with as much plainness as
possible, their nature and medicinal applicability.

Wherever I could, with advantage to the public, I
have availed myself of the observations of others, and
I claim at the hands of my readers this award of merit
at least : of having honestly endeavored to make my
hu?nble labors convenient and practically valuable to
them ; not by dazzling but uncertain theories, nor by
creating hopes that might end in sad disappointment,
but by plain, practical facts in relation to the nature
and proper uses of our various mineral waters.

In arranging the matter for the volume, I shall treat
of the waters under the heads of the States in which
they are respectively found ; and have preferred to in-
troduce the States rather in the order of their mineral
water similitudes than in the usual geographical or
political order in which they are generally made to
stand. Hence I shall first treat of the waters of Vir-
ginia and West Virginia, and of the Western and South-
ern States ; and then of those of the North and East,
commencing with the great mineral water State of New
York.

I have intentionally avoided in this, as in my previ-
ous volumes, all criticisms upon the improvements of
spring property, or of the character of the accommo-

12 TO THE PUBLIC.

dations at the several springs. Such criticism, in a
printed volume intended for reference long after its
issue from the press, would be likely to mislead, and
probably do great injustice ; inasmuch as improvements,
now faulty, may, before the next season, be rendered
very comfortable, and bad hotel accommodations are
often amended in a day by a change of landlord or
manager. It is of the nature and medicinal applicability
of mineral waters that I have felt called upon to write ;
and this I have done without prejudice, fear, or favor;
having no interest, directly or indirectly, in any of the
springs, and influenced alone in my estimation of them
by personal observation, or, when this has been want-
ing, from the most reliable information I could obtain.
I am not vain enough to suppose that none of my
opinions are erroneous : to err is both human and com-
mon ; but upon the honest integrity with which they
have been formed, the invalid, the profession, and the
general public may rely.

J. J. Moorman.

White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.,
March, 1873.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I,

MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

PAGE

Early Use of, etc. — Experience the only Guide in the Adminis-
tration— Medical Efficacy — Modus Operandi, etc. — Length of
Time to be Used — General Remarks on Administration 21

CHAPTER n.
MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL (CONTINUED).
Resemblance of some Mineral Waters to Mercury — Errors and
Abuse of Mineral Waters, etc. — Changing from Spring to
Spring — Dress — Diet, Exercise — Best Time for Using — Length
of Time to be Used, etc 35

CHAPTER HL
USE OF MEDICINES AND DIFFERENT MINERAL WATERS.
Prescribing Mineral Water — The Best Period of the Year for In-
valids to Visit the Springs S"

CHAPTER IV.

WEST VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA SPRINGS.

Routes to the West Virginia and Virginia Springs 59

CHAPTER V.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Location and General Physical Characteristics — Its Strength uni-
formly the same— Does not lose its Strength by parting with its
Gas — Does not deposit its Salts when Quiescent— Its Gas fatal
to Fish — Its Early History — Known to the Indians as a " Medi-

(13)

14 CONTENTS.

FAGB

cine Water" — First used by the Whites in 1778 — Progress of
Improvements, and present Condition — Analyses of Mr. Hayes
and Professor Rogers 62

CHAPTER VI.

THE RELATIVE VIRTUES OF THE SALINE AND GASEOUS
CONTENTS OF THE WHITE SULPHUR WATER 7I

CHAPTER VII.

. GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR THE USE OF THE WHITE
SULPHUR WATER.

Directions meant to be General, not Specific — Must not look to
the Sensible Operations of the Water for its Best Effects —
Moderate or Small Quantities Generally Preferable — Necessary
Preparations of the System for the Use of the Water— Sensible
Medicinal Effects of the Water — Effects on the Pulse — Synopsis
of Rules to be Observed — Use of Baths 81

CHAPTER VIII.

DISEASES IN WHICH THE WHITE SULPHUR WATER MAY,
OR MAY NOT, BE USEFULLY PRESCRIBED.

Dyspepsia — Gastralgia — Water-Brash — Chronic Gastro-Enteritis
— Diseases of the Liver — Jaundice — Enlargement of the Spleen
— Chronic Irritation of the Bowels — Costiveness — Piles — Dis-
eases of the Urinary Organs — Chronic Inflammation of the Kid-
neys— Diabetes — Female Diseases : Amenorrhosa, Dysmenor-
rhoea. Chlorosis, Leucorrhoea — Chronic Aifections of the Brain —
Nervous Diseases — Paralysis — Some Forms of Chronic Diseases
of the Chest, or Breast Complaints (to be avoided in Pulmo-
nary Consumption) — Bronchitis — Chronic Diseases of the Skin,
Psoriasis, Lepra, Ill-conditioned Ulcers — Rheumatism and Gout
— Dropsies — Scrofula — Mercurial Diseases — Erysipelas —
Effects in Inebriates — Effects upon the Opium-eaters — Not to
be Used in Diseases of the Heart, or in Scirrhus and Cancer —
Chalybeate Spring at the White Sulphur 91

CHAPTER IX.

SALT SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Location, etc. — Analysis by Professor Rogers — Medical Applica-
bility of the Waters 109

. CONTENTS. 1 2

CHAI^ER X.

RED SULPHUR SPRINGS.

PAGE

Location — Analysis — Adaptation to Diseases, etc. — New River
White Sulphur Springs iii

CHAPTER XI.

SWEET SPRINGS.

Situation and Early History — Improvements — Analysis — Effects
of the Waters — Adaptation of the Waters as a Beverage and
as a Bath, etc 115

CHAPTER XII.

SWEET CHALYBEATE, OR RED SWEET SPRINGS.

Their Analysis — Nature and Medicinal Adaptations of the Waters
as a Beverage and a Bath — Artificial Warm Baths, etc 121

CHAPTER XIII.
HOT SPRINGS.
Effects of the Waters Internally and Externally used — Analysis
— Diseases to which they are applicable — Speculations on
Thermalization, etc 128

CHAPTER XIV.

WARM SPRINGS.

Analysis — Time and Manner of Using — Diseases for which Em-
ployed, etc 134

CHAPTER XV.

HEALING SPRINGS.

Location — Analyses — Therapeutic Action — Diseases for which
they may be Prescribed, etc 137

CHAPTER XVI.

ROCKBRIDGE ALUM SPRINGS.

Location — Analysis — Remarks on Analysis — The Name Alum a
Misnomer, etc. — Therapeutic Effects of the Waters — Diseases
in which they are employed — Their Excellent Effects in Scrofula 141

Jordon Rockbridge Alum Springs 146

1 6 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVII.

BATH ALUM SPRINGS.

PAGE

Analysis — Diseases and States of the System in which they may

be Prescribed, etc 147

CHAPTER XVIII.

Rockbridge Baths 150

Cold Sulphur Spring 150

Variety Springs 151

Stribling's Springs 151

CHAPTER XIX.

Rawley's Spring 154

Massanetta Springs 156

Jordan's White Sulphur Springs 157

CHAPTER XX.

BATH OR BERKELEY SPRINGS.

Early History — Baths and Bathing- Houses — Medical Properties

of the Waters — Diseases for which used, etc 159

Capon Springs 161

CHAPTER XXI.

Coiner's Black and White Sulphur Springs 163

Roanoke Red Sulphur Spring 164

Johnson's Springs 164

The Blue Ridge Spring 164

Alleghany Springs 165

Montgomery White Sulphur 170

CHAPTER XXII.

Yellow Sulphur Springs 171

Pulaski Alum Spring 174

Grayson Sulphur Springs 174

Holston Springs 175

Kimberling Springs 176

CONTENTS. I y

CHAPTER XXIII.

PAGE

Fauquier White Sulphur Springs 178

Buffalo Springs 178

Huguenot Springs 180

New London Alum Spring 181

CHAPTER XXIV.

SPRINGS OF KENTUCKY.

Harrodsburg — Rochester — Olympian — Blue Lick — Estill 183

CHAPTER XXV.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF OHIO AND INDIANA.

Ohio White Sulphur 188

Yellow Springs 189

French Lick Springs, Indiana 190

CHAPTER XXVI.

SPRINGS OF MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN.

St. Louis Springs, Michigan 192

Bethesda Springs, Wisconsin 194

CHAPTER XXVII.

SPRINGS OF TENNESSEE.

White's Creek Spring — Robertson's — Winchester — Beersheba —
Montvale — Tate's — Lee's — Sulphur and Chalybeate — Alum
Springs — Warm Springs on the French Broad 19S

CHAPTER XXVIII.

SPRINGS OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Warm and Hot Springs of Buncombe — Shocco Springs — Jones'

White Sulphur and Chalybeate — Kittrell's Springs 200

Sulphur Springs, Catawba County 203

CHAPTER XXIX.

SPRINGS OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

Glenn's — West's — Springs in Abbeville and Laurens Districts,
etc. — Chick's — Williamstown Springs — Artesian Well in
Charleston 204

1 8 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXX.

SPRINGS OF GEORGIA.

PAGE

Indian — Madison — Warm Springs — Gordon's — Catoosa Springs 206
CHAPTER XXXI.

SPRINGS OF ALABAMA.

Bladen Springs — Bailey's Spring — Tallahatta Springs 208

CHAPTER XXXII.

SPRINGS OF MISSISSIPPI.

Cooper's Well — Ocean Springs 216

CHAPTER XXXIII.

SPRINGS OF ARKANSAS.

Washita Hot Springs 213

Springs of Florida 217

CHAPTER XXXIV.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

Saratoga and Ballston Group — Classification of Waters — Geo-
logical Position — Thermalization of Waters — Analysis of va-
rious Springs, etc 218

CHAPTER XXXV.
NEW YORK MINERAL WATERS (CONTINUED).
Improper Use of the Saratoga Waters, and its Evils — Injurious
Advice and Errors of Opinion as to the Nature and Use of

Mineral Waters 229

Diseases for which the Saratoga Waters may be Prescribed —
Albany Artesian Well — Reed's Mineral Spring — Halleck's
Spring, etc 231

CHAPTER XXXVI.

NEW YORK SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Sharon Springs — Avon Springs— Richfield Springs 238

CONTENTS. 19

CHAPTER XXXVII.

NEW YORK SULPHUR AND ACIDULOUS SPRINGS.

PAGE

Clifton Springs — Chittenango Springs — Messina Sulphur Springs
— Manlius Springs — Auburn Springs — Chappaqua Springs —
Harrowgate Spring — Spring at Troy — Newburg Spring —
Springs in Dutchess and Columbia Counties — Catskill Spring
— Nanticoke Spring — Dryden Spring — Rochester Spring —
Springs in Monroe County: Gates, Mendon, and Ogden —
Verona Spring — Saquoit Springs — Springs in Niagara County
— Seneca or Deer Lick Springs — Oak Orchard Acid Springs —
Acid Spring at Chfton — Adirondack Spring 245

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

SPRINGS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Bedford Springs — Gettysburg Spring — Frankfort Mineral Springs
Chalybeate Spring near Pittsburg — York Springs — Carlisle
Springs — Perry County Springs — Doubling Gap and Chalyb-
eate Springs — Fayette Spring — Bath Chalybeate Spring —
Blossburg Spring — Ephrata Springs — Yellow Springs — Cale-
donia Springs 255

CHAPTER XXXIX.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF VERMONT.

Clarendon Gaseous Springs — Newburg Sulphur Springs — High-
gate Springs — Abburgh Spring — Missisquoi Springs — Vermont
Springs — Alburgh Springs 268

CHAPTER XL,

SPRINGS OF MASSACHUSETTS.

H opkinton Springs — Berkshire Soda Spring 272

CHAPTER XLI.

SPRINGS OF NEW JERSEY AND MAINE.

Schooley's Mountain Spring 274

Saline Lubec Spring in Maine— Dexter Chalybeate Spring 275

20 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XLII.

MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS BETWEEN THE MIS-
SISSIPPI AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

PAGE

In California — Oregon — Kansas — New Mexico — Wyoming —
Utah, etc 277

Table exhibiting the Therm alization of the Various Warm and
Hot Springs of the United States and its Territories 284

CHAPTER XLHI.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF CANADA.

Caledonia Springs — Charlottesville Spring — St. Catharine's Ar-
tesian Wells — Varennes Springs — St. Leon Spring — Plan-
tagenet Spring — Caxton Spring 286

MINERAL SPRINGS

OF

NORTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER I.

■ MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

Early Use of, etc. — Experience the only Guide in the Administration
— Medical Efficacy — Modus Operandi, etc. — Length of Time to be
Used — General Remarks on Administration.

Mineral waters rank among the ancient remedies
used for the cure of disease. The Greeks, who in
knowledge of medicine were superior to the nations
who had preceded them, regarded natural medicated
waters as a special boon of the Deity, and piously
dedicated them to Hercules, the god of strength.
They used them for drinking, and for general and
topical bathing. Hippocrates was acquainted with
the value and uses of various mineral waters, and
many other Greek physicians, we are told, employed
them for numerous diseases for which they are used at
this day.

With the Romans, mineral waters were a familiar
remedy, not only in Italy, but in all the countries
over which that nation obtained dominion. Mineral
springs were eagerly sought out in the countries over
which their conquests from time to time extended, and

3 (21)

2 2 MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

prompted by " gratitude for the benefit which they
experienced from their use, they decorated them with
edifices, and each fount was placed under the protec-'
tion of a tutelary deity." {Bell.) Pliny, in his Natu-
ral History, treats of various mineral waters and their
uses ; and it is a fact worthy of remark, that they were
highly recommended by various Roman physicians, in
the fifth century, in the same diseases for which they
are at this day so much employed, — particularly for
nervous and rheumatic diseases, and for derangements
of the liver, stomach, and skin.

With the modern nations of civilized Europe, min-
eral waters, both as internal and external remedies,
have always been held in high estimation. The
national regulations that have from time to time been
adopted to investigate their virtues and their appropri-
ate applicability, and to guard against their improper
use, sufficiently manifest the importance that has been
attached to them as remedial agents. Henri IV., we
are told, " during his youth had frequented the springs
of the Pyrenees, and witnessing the abuses in the
employment of so useful a remedy, sought to correct
them after his accession to the throne of France. He
nominated, by edicts and letters-patent, in 1603,
superintendents and superintendents-general, who were
charged with the entire control over the use of mineral
waters, baths, and fountains of the kingdom. Most of
the mineral springs and bathing establishments on the
continent of Europe are placed under a somewhat sim-
ilar superintendence, and a resident physician is also
appointed by the government." {Bell.')

Although mineral waters had been favorite remedial
agents with the enlightened nations of the earth for
many centuries, it was comparatively but recently that
chemistry, by minute analysis, was able to determine
with precision their constituent parts.

In 1670, the mineral waters of France were first fully
analyzed by a commission appointed by the Academy

EXPERIENCE THE BEST GUIDE. 23

of Sciences at Paris; but it was not until 1766, nearly
a hundred years afterwards, that Bayen discovered the
means of separating sulphur from sulphurous waters, —
nor until 1774 that the celebrated Bergmann demon-
strated the existence of sulphuretted hydrogen gas.
Meanwhile, physicians stationed at the several water-
ing-places were active in observing and noting the va-
rious operations of the different waters on the human
system, and in determining, from experience, the va-
rious cases in which they were beneficial or injurious.

Experience the only sure Guide in the Administration,
etc. — After all that science can effect in determining
the component parts of mineral waters, it is experience
alone in their use that can be fully relied upon as to
their specific effects, or applicability to particular dis-
eases. Chemical analysis is important mainly as a
matter of general scientific knowledge, and may be so
far practically useful to the physician as to enable him
to form correct general vieivs as relates to the nature
and powers of the remedy; but it is fallacious to sup-
pose that an analysis, however perfect, can ever enable
the physician, in the present state of our knowledge,
and in the absence of practical observation, to prescribe
a mineral water with confidence or safety. An accu-
rate knowledge of the component parts of mineral
waters might do much, I admit, to prevent the incessant
mistakes and mischief which medical men commit in
sending their patients, hap-hazard, to drink mineral
waters which are often unadapted to their cases ; but
it never can, in the absence of experimental knowledge,
qualify them for giving specific and detailed directions
for their use. Dr. Jolm Bell, in his valuable work on
"Baths and Mineral Waters," has the following sen-
sible and judicious passage upon this subject : "I wish
not," he says, "to be ranked among the chemical
physicians, who, having discovered the proportion of
each foreign ingredient in tlfe mineral spring, and

24

MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

studied its operation on the economy, pretend to de-
termine the general effect of the compound. We may,
indeed, by a knowledge of the constituent parts, pre-
dict to a certain extent the medicinal power of the
compound ; but it is only by multiplied facts, that is,
experience of its use, that we can speak positively of its
virtues."

In no other country, perhaps, do mineral waters
abound in greater variety than in the United States;
and it is a subject of sincere regret, that their nature,
applicability, and proper method of administration
should have been so little studied, both by physicians
and the public at large. It is true that certain opinions
generally prevail in enlightened circles as regards the
curative powers of some of our more celebrated foun-
tains; and these opinions, so far as they go, being gen-
erally founded on experience, may, in the main, be
tolerably correct. Nevertheless, there is a lamentable
want of information generally, and even among our
more enlightened physicians, as to the specific nature
and adaptation of mineral wafers to pa7'ticular diseases
— information the want of which must always dis-
qualify for the safe and confident recommendation of
these valuable agents.

A perfect knowledge of the various influences and
of the peculiar minute circumstances that control the
use of mineral waters in different systems, as well as
the best methods of using them in certain pathological
conditions of the system, must, as with all other medi-
cines, be learned from observation. Now, as physi-
cians but rarely have an opportunity of observing the
use of mineral waters for a sufficient length of time and
in a sufficient variety of cases, and as but little has
been written by those who have observed their effects,
it ought not to be supposed that the medical public
generally would be greatly enlightened on this subject.

I have said that the opinions generally prevailing in
enlightened circles relative to the curative powers of

EXPERIENCE THE BEST GUIDE. 25

our principal mineral fountains, being founded on ex-
perience, may, in the main, be correct. I would not
be understood, however, as advising a reliance upon
such "popular fame." Information of this kind is
sufficient to awaken attention and incite inquiry, but
certainly should not be implicitly relied upon in indi-
vidual cases. At best, it is generally "hearsay"
opinion, made up, ordinarily, from partial and empiri-
cal sources ; or, quite as likely, from the prejudiced
accounts which are brought by visitors from the differ-
ent watering-places, and which are sweepingly favorable,
or prejudicial, as they may chance to have been bene-
fited or worsted, and that without reference to the
specific action of the agent, or that clear understand-
ing of the pathology of the case, which would serve as
a safe guide in its application to others. Every physi-
cian knows how prone persons are to err in the use of
medicines, from the supposed resemblance of cases.
Often am I pained to see persons persevering in the
use of a mineral water to their evident prejudice, and
for no better reason than that Mr. or Mrs. Such-a-one
was cured of a disease supposed to be similar; or, by
the general recommendation of some medical man who
sent them to the " mountains" with a '■^ carte blanche'^
to use ^^ some of the mineral waters.'''' Occasionally it
has become my painful duty to advise patients to re-
trace their melancholy steps homeward, without using
any of the waters, because none were adapted to their
case.

Mineral waters are not a panacea ; they act, like all
other medicines, by producing certain effects upon the
animal economy, and upon principles capable of being
clearly defined. It follows, that there are various dis-
eases and states of the system to which they are not
only not adapted, but in which they would be eminently
injurious.

Some years since, I was requested to visit a highly-
respectable gentleman, who had just arrived at the

2 6 MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

White Sulphur with his family, from one of our distant
cities. He was in wretched health, and sought my ad-
vice as to the applicability of the water to his case.
On examination, I felt astonished that any medical
man of intelligence should have recommended such a
case to mineral waters for relief. I advised the gen-
tleman to retrace his steps homeward, and put himself
under medical treatment, as he had no time to lose.
Accordingly, the ensuing morning he recommenced his
journey of seven hundred miles to reach his home.
Medicine did for him what mineral waters were not
calculated to do, and I have since heard of his entire
recovery. This gentleman informed me that he had
been influenced to undertake the distant and, to him,
painful journey, by a physician who had never before
prescribed for his case, and who candidly stated to him
that he knew but little of the mineral waters of Vir-
ginia, but he had heard of many cures from their use,
and therefore advised that he should hasten to give
them a trial. Influenced by this vague opinion, the
unfortunate invalid had dragged himself and his family
seven hundred miles, under the vain hope of finding a
remedy, which the physician should, in such a case,
have found in his own office. Now, a little more
knowledge of the nature of mineral waters, and a
more commendable caution in advising their use,
would have prevented the heavy sacrifice this gentleman
incurred. Nor is this by any means an isolated in-
stance ; my case-book furnishes many others equally
strong, that have come under my observation in the
course of my practice.

Medical Efficacy, etc. — Mineral waters are exceed-
ingly valuable as medicinal agents, are applicable to a
large circle of cases, and will, unquestionably, cure
many which the ordinary remedies of the shops will
not. Nevertheless, it should always be borne in mind
that they are not a catholicon ; that they are not to be

MEDICAL EFFICACY.

27

used for every disease; and that, to be prescribed suc-
cessfully, they must, like all other medicines, be pre-
scribed with reference to the nature and pathology of the
case. Nor is this caution ordinarily more necessary in
using the various medicines of the shops than in using
the more potent mineral waters.

Some there are, I know, who profess to be unbe-
lievers in the medicinal activity of mineral waters, and
who, without denying the benefit that is often derived
from visiting such fountains, attribute the whole to
travel, change of air, exercise, relaxation from busi-
ness, etc. Now, I freely admit that these are often
important agents in the cure of a large class of cases;
but, from long experience at a popular watering-place,
and the numerous cures I have seen effected from the
water itself, totally disconnected with any of the ad-
juncts alluded to, it would be quite as easy to con-
vince me that bark is not tonic, that y^zAz/ does not
purge, or that mercury will not salivate, as that mineral
waters may not be an active and potent means of curing
disease, entirely independent of the valuable adjuvants
that have been alluded to.

The advocates of the non-efficacy of mineral waters,
per se, would scarcely persist in this opinion, after see-
ing the large amount of active medical material ob-
tained by evaporation from some of our more active
waters; the IVJiite Sulphur, iov m?,t3.\-\cQ, which yields
more than one hundred and fifty grains to the gallon,
and which, upon analysis, is found to consist oi iodine,
sulphur, the various combinations of soda, magnesia,
and other active ingredients. Would it not be absurd
to believe that so large an amount of these efficient
medical substances as is usually taken into the stomach,
by those who drink mineral waters in which they
abound, could fail to exert ^.positive influence upon the
economy ? My own experience for many years, in the
use of such waters, enables me to bear the most un-
equivocal testimony as to the direct and positive in-

28 MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

fiuence of many of them upon the human body. In
the language of the celebrated Patissier, I can unhesi-
tatingly say that, "in the general, mineral waters re-
vive the languishing circulation, give a new direction
to the vital energies, re-establish the perspiratory action
of the skin, bring back to their physiological type
the vitiated or suppressed secretions, provoke salutary
evacuations either by urine, or stool, or by transpira-
tion ; they bring about in the animal economy an in-
timate transmutation — d^. profound change ; they saturate
the sick body. How many sick persons, abandoned
by their physicians, have found health at mineral
springs ! How many individuals, exhausted by violent
disease, have recovered, by a journey to mineral waters,
their tone, mobility, and energy, to restore which,
attempts in other ways might have been made with less
certitude of success !" And hence most cordially do I
adopt the sentiments of the distinguished Dr. Arm-
strong, who, in speaking of the medicinal efficacy of
mineral waters, says, ^^ I dare pledge ihy word, thai, if
they be only fully and fairly tried, they will be found
among the most powerful agents which have ever been
brought to the relief of human maladies. ' '

Modus Operandi, etc. — Various attempts have been
made to account for the peculiar effects of mineral
waters upon the system. They seem to act, in the
first place, as a simple hygienic agent. Secondly, they
act, in accordance with their constituent ingredients,
specifically on the animal economy. Mineral waters
exert their more important influences upon the human
body upon a different principle from many of the ar-
ticles of the materia medica; they are evidently a^-
sorbed, enter into the circulation, and change the
consistence as well as the composition of the fluids ;
they course through the system, and apply the medical
materials which they hold in solution, in the most
minute form of subdivision that can be conceived of.

MODUS OPERANDI.

29

to the diseased surfaces and tissues ; they reach and
search the most minute ramifications of the capillaries,
and remove the morbid condition of those vessels,
which are so commonly the primary seats of disease.
It is thus that they relieve chronic disordered action,
p.nd impart natural energy and elasticity to vessels that
have been distended either by inflammation or conges-
tion ; while they communicate an energy to the muscular
fibre and to the animal tissues generally, which is not
witnessed from the administration of ordinary remedies.

Many of the articles of the materia medica seem to
act by sympathy and counter-irritation, and to cure one
organ of the body by irritating another ; thus calomel,-
by irritating the stomach and duodenum, is made to
act efficiently upon the liver, to which organ it has
a strong specific tendency. Not so, however, with
mineral waters : they tieve?- cure one organ by irritating
another. I can with confidence assert, that I have
never seen mineral boaters successfully used in any case
in which they kept up a considerable irritation upon any
of the organs of the body.

Both physicians and patients are far too much in
the habit of looking to the immediate and sensible
operations of mineral waters, and of judging of their
efficacy from such effects. In most cases, it is service-
able for such agents to open the bowels gently ; and in
some, it is best for them to purge actively. Occasion-
ally, advantage is derived from promoting an increased
flow of urine or perspiration ; but, as a general rule,
the greatest good is derived from the absorption of the
water, resulting in that "profound change" spoken of
by Patissier, or, in other words, the alterative action
of the remedy. It should always be borne in mind
that this profound change — this alterative effect — is in-
compatible with constant or active action of the water
upon any of the emunctories. This, unquestionably,
is true as relates to the White Sulphur water, and I
believe it to be so with all alterative waters.

3°

MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

So well convinced ana I, that the altei-ative action is
the real curative action effected by su/phnr waters, in
nine cases out of ten where any serious disease exists,
that, ordinarily, I am not solicitous to obtain much
daily increase of evacuation from any of the emunc-
tories. On the contrary, I often find great advantage
from the administration of some appropriate means to
prevent the too free action of the water, especially on
the bowels and kidneys. As a general rule, it is far
better that such waters should lie quietly upon the system,
without manifesting much excitement upon any of the
organs, and producing, at most, but a small increase
in the quantity of the ordinary healthy evacuations.

The quality or kind of evacuations produced by
mineral waters is a matter of far more importance, and,
when strong sulphur waters are used, never fails to
evidence the existence and the extent to which alterative
action is going on in the system ; and to this, persons
using such waters should always pay a careful attention.

I have said that the best effects of mineral waters are
their alterative or changing effects ; and that, in the ad-
ministration of the White Sulphur, I do not, ordinarily,
desire to provoke much increase of the natural evacua-
tions. I do not wish, however, to be understood, by
this general declaration, as laying down an absolute
rule of practice to govern all cases, or to apply in
reference to all waters. The administration of mineral
waters, like the administration of every other remedy,
should be governed in reference to the particular
character and demands of each case; and in such dis-
criminating practice it will sometimes be found best to
use them in a manner to produce active operations for
a short time. I have, indeed, generally found, that
those who are actively purged by mineral waters, if
they have strength to bear it, will be best satisfied with
the remedy at the time, and, in fact, are apt to feel
better at the time, than those upon whom the water is
exerting but little or no purgative effect. It may be

HOW LONG TO BE USED. ^I

laid down as a general fact, in the use of all alterative
waters, subject to but few exceptions, that those on
whose bowels they act freely will feel best while at the
Springs ; while those who are but little purged will
feel best after they have left the Springs, and will,
ordinarily, enjoy the most permanent advantage. The
reason of this is obvious: in the first case, the active
purgation throws off the gross humors of the body, and
the patient feels promptly relieved ; in the other case,
the remedy lies upon the system, is absorbed, and
gradually produces its changing influences, — bringing
the various secretory functions into a healthy condition,
— unloading and cleansing the machinery of the econ-
omy,— silently putting its works to rights, and giving
them their natural and healthy motion. All this re-
quires time for its accomplishment ; and hence, we
often hear persons say, "I was no better while at the
Springs, but I began to mend soon after I left, and
have continued better since." Declarations of this
kind we constantly hear by persons who have previously
visited alterative springs; and they verify the correct-
ness of my proposition.

Length of Time to be used, etc. — To acute diseases,
mineral waters are not adapted ; for all such they are
too exciting, too prone to increase the activity of the
circulation, and to stimulate the general system. It is
in chi-onic diseases only that they are found so eminently'
serviceable. By chronic diseases I mean those slow
diseases of the system uniformly attended either with
simple excitement, chronic inflammation, or chronic
congestion of the blood-vessels. To be permanently
beneficial in diseases of this description, the use of
mineral waters, like the disease for which they are taken,
should be ' ' chronic. ' ' I mean that an instantaneous cure
should not be expected ; but that the remedy should be
persisted in, and the cure gradually brought about.
Sulphur waters, especially, may be easily brought into

32

MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

disrepute by short and imperfect trials of them. To
prove effectual, "they should for the most part be con-
tinued daily, in sufficient quantity, until the disease
gives way, or until their inefficacy has been fairly proved
by an unremitted perseverance. In some cases of oph-
thabnia, of rhetimatism, and slight cutaneous affections, I
have known them to effect a cure in two or three
weeks, while in other cases, apparently similar in all
respects, twice, thrice, or even four times that period
has elapsed before the cure had been accomplished ;
and what is here affirmed of these external affections, is
still more strongly applicable to internal diseases, which
are seldom speedily overcome by these waters, how
completely soever they may yield at last. In illus-
tration of this point, as to internal diseases, it may be
mentioned that I have seen both chronic inflammation
of the liver, and chronic inflammation of the rectum,
where no benefit was produced for three or four weeks,
and yet a continuation of the waters for six or eight weeks
longer has effaced every vestige of the morbid indica-
tions for which they were prescribed." {Armstrong on
Sulphur Waters?)

There is no greater folly, in the use of mineral waters,
than that of laying down a definite period of time for
which they should be used, without reference to their
effects upon the system. Like all other medicines,
mineral waters should be used, discontinued, or modi-
fied in their use, with a strict regard to their operations
upon the body, and to their good or bad effects upon
the disease. Whenever prescribed, their operations
should be watched with the same care with which we
watch the effects of any other medicine ; and they
should be persevered in, or temporarily or permanently
discontinued, or controlled in their action by some ap-
propriate adjuvant, according to the indications pre-
sented in each case.

It will occur to every reflecting mind, that the ex-
pectation of being cured, or even essentially benefited.

THEIR ADMINISTRATION. 33

in an obstinate chronic disease, from a few days' use of
any mineral water, is altogether unreasonable. Never-
theless, I have often seen persons at watering-places
despairing of the efficacy of the remedy, simply because
it had not produced an obvious and appreciable benefit
in five or six days. A sort oi stereotyped o\yv\\\ori indeed
prevails with numerous visitors to such places, that the
water should not in any case be used longer than two
weeks. I scarcely need say that this is a most erroneous
opinion, and often interposes between the patient and
his recovery. It is true that some, who hold the un-
warrantable opinion alluded to, perseveringly endeavor
to drink as much in the "two weeks" as they should
do in six; but this only serves in a common way to
make them abandon it four or five days before their
prescribed time, by absolutely disqualifying the system
for its reception at all.

I can say, as the result of many years' observation,
that the White Sulphur, which is one of the strongest
sulphur waters in the world, rarely produces its full
alterative effects within two weeks, under its most
judicious administration, and under favorable circum-
stances for its use ; and that three, four, five, and even
eight weeks often elapse before it has displayed its full
remedial powers in obstinate cases. And such will be
found to be the case with all alterative waters.

General Remarks on the Administration, etc. — Min-
eral waters are all stimulants in a greater or less de-
gree, and some have attributed much of their virtue
to this property. Such an opinion, however, is clearly
erroneous. I have already remarked that such waters
are rarely serviceable when they keep up any consider-
able irritation of an organ. I now remark that any
considerable excitement of the general organism is
equally prejudicial ; indeed, I have often been embar-
rassed, and sometimes thwarted in the successful use
of mineral waters, from the prevalence of this quality.

4

34

MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

The amount of excitement resulting from the use of
such waters depends upon the nature of their constitu-
ent principles; upon the quantity taken, the manner
of taking it, and the excitability of each individual's
constitution. If it be a watet abounding in sulphu-
retted hydrogen gas, the most essential difference exists
in taking it zvith or without its gas ; that is, in taking
it fresh at the spring, or after its gas has flown off. In
the use of the Sulphur Waters, with or without their
peculiar gas, the most marked difference exists in their
stimulating quality, and it is greatly advantageous in
many cases, particularly in very excitable persons, to
have the gas expelled in part, or in whole, before using
them.

Some mineral waters, by varying the method of their
administration, or by the interposition of appropriate
adjuvants, are capable of extensive and valuable modi-
fied actions and effects upon the human body. The
White Sulphur is susceptible of as many varied, differ-
ent, and modified actions upon the system generally,
and upon its particular organs, by varying the methods
of using it, as is mercury, or antimony, or any of our
leading therapeutical agents. For instance, it can be
so used as to stitnu/ate distressingly; or, without any
appreciable stimulating effect. It can be so given as
almost invariably to purge actively ; ox, without lessen-
ing the quantity producing such effect, but merely by
changing the time and manner of taking it, it can be so
given as to exert little or no cathartic operation. It
may be directed to, or restrained from, the kidneys, or
skin ; and what, in a general way, is far more important,
it can be so used as to lie quietly on the system, pro-
ducing no excessive action upon any of the organs,
and, with a quiet but sure progress, go on breaking up
the obstructions, in the glandular organs and removing
the impediments to the proper discharge of their func-
tions : equalizing the circulation, removing chronic
inflammations, and generally restoring the energies of
the system.

RESEMBLANCE TO MERCURY, ETC. 35

CHAPTER II.

MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

CONTINUED.

Resemblance of some Mineral Waters to Mercun,' — Errors and Abuse
of Mineral Waters, etc. — Changing from Spring to Spring —
Dress — Diet, Exercise — Best Time for Using — Length of Time to be
Used, etc.

Resemblance to Mercury, etc. — Between the action of
mercury, and the more powerful of the sulphur waters,
on the organic system, the most striking similarity
exists. Dr. Armstrong long since remarked the resem-
blance between mercury and the sulphur waters of
Europe, and confidently expressed the opinion that the
latter are equally powerful with the former, in their action
upon the secretory organs ; and with this very impor-
tant difference, that while the long-continued use of
mercury, in chronic disease, generally breaks up the
strength, that of the sulphur waters generally renovates
the whole system. Mercury has heretofore, by common
consent, been regarded as the most powerful alterative
we possess. I am not prepared to dispute this high
claim of the medicine, but this much I will assert, as a
matter of professional experience, that sulphur water,
in my hands, has proved an alterative quite as certain
in its effects as mercury, though somewhat slower in its
operations. Not only so, I believe it to be far better
adapted than mercury to a large circle of cases, in which
glandular obstructions and chronic inflammations are
to be subdued. If the claims of the two remedies for
preference were otherwise nearly equal, the great ad-

36 MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

vantage on the score of safety from the sulphur water
would give it an immense preference over its rival.
Numerous cases present themselves, however, in which
they are used in conjunction to great advantage.
Where this becomes necessary, I have, as a general
rule of practice, found it best not to continue the mer-
cury longer than six or eight days ; nor is it often neces-
sary to use it continually during that period.

The effects of the White Sulphur water upon the
human body resemble mercury in several respects.
Not to mention others, its resemblance is strikingly
manifest from the fact of its producing salivation'^
under certain peculiar circumstances. Another marked
similarity may be mentioned, especially as it has a
direct bearing upon the proper method of its admin-
istration : I allude to the existence of a phlogistic
diathesis in individuals with whom either remedy is
used. When the system resists the specific action of
mercury, it is a certain test that the inflammatory
diathesis prevails to a considerable extent, and this is
the cause of the resistance ; for lessen the inflammatory
diathesis by proper evacuations, and the specific action
of the mercury will be readily induced. The system
often offers the same resistance to the successful use of
this water, which is evidently occasioned by the excess
of the inflammatory diathesis, inasmuch as when the
inflammatory disposition is abated by the lancet, pur-
gatives, etc., the water promptly produces its wonted
good effects. In the administration of this particular
water, it is of the utmost consequence to keep this
practical fact constantly in view, and, by proper treat-
ment, to keep down both general and local excite-
ment.

Notwithstanding mineral waters are so well adapted
to the cure of chronic diseases, it should not be ex-

* Dr. Salsbury, the resident physician at Avon Springs, has wit-
nessed similar effects from the Avo7t water.

ERRORS AND ABUSE.

37

pected that they will be uniformly successful ; for it
must be remembered that such diseases are only reme-
diable when unconnected with alterations of organic
tissue, which is their ultimate and mortal product.
Nor is it reasonable to expect that any plan of treat-
ment will succeed in all cases of chronic disease,
unconnected with alteration of tissue ; and I have
accordingly found the methods recommended at times
ineffectual, even when they were tried under circum-
stances which simply indicated disorder of the func-
tion, without any concomitant sign of disorganization.

Errors and Abuse of Mineral Waters, etc. — I have
before alluded to some of the abuses of mineral
waters by those who resort to them for relief; this
subject, I conceive, may be still further pursued with
profit to my readers. To one familiar with the many
errors and mistakes committed in the use of mineral
waters in this country, it will not seem wonderful that
numbers return from visiting our most celebrated
watering-places without having received any essential
benefit, but be rather a matter of surprise that so large
an amount of good is achieved. The precautions in
the use of such waters, deemed indispensable in France,
Germany, and England, are greatly neglected here.
There, the advice of a competent physician, who is
well acquainted with the nature and peculiarities of the
water, is thought so important, that persons rarely
enter upon their use without such advice, and, at some
places, are actually not permitted to do so. If similar
precautions were more commonly adopted by visitors
at our various watering-places, a far larger amount of
good would be secured to the afflicted, much injury
prevented, and the character of the several waters
better established and preserved. It is a subject of
daily and painful observation, at all our principal
watering-places, to witness numerous individuals using
mineral waters that are not adapted to their cases ; and

4*

38

MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

Still more common is it to see those, to whose cases
they are adapted, using them so improperly as entirely
to prevent the good they would accomplish under a
proper administration. Professor Mutter, of Phila-
delphia, makes the following judicious remarks when
speaking of the use and abuse of mineral waters in
this country: "Like every other remedy of any effi-
cacy, mineral waters are liable to abuse, and it is really
astonishing that such glaring errors should be daily
committed, not only by the patients, but often by the
physicians who recommend their employment. It is
by no means an uncommon occurrence (and those who
have visited the springs of our country will bear me
out in the statement I am about to make) for an in-
dividual to arrive, furnished with a ' carte blanche,^
from a physician who has probably little or no knowl-
edge of the active properties of the agent he recom-
mends, to use the water as he may see fit, or with
merely a charge to ^ use it with caution' Others are
sent without any direction whatever, in the hope that
the water may suit their condition, and come trusting
in Providence alone. Others, again, arrive with writ-
ten instructions to drink so many glasses of the water
per diem, whether it agrees with them or not. Many
patients do not take the advice of a physician at all,
but, relying on the representations of those who have
derived benefit, imagine that they, too, will be cured,
although, in all probability, from the nature of their
disease, the water may be the most prejudicial to which
they could resort. Used in this careless and dangerous
manner, is it to be wondered at that so many indi-
viduals leave the springs either not at all benefited,
or in a worse condition than when they arrived ?

"The regulations which are thought necessary, and
which are adopted in most European countries, espe-
cially France and Germany, during the use of a mineral
water, are either unknown or neglected in this. There,
nearly every spring is supplied with an experienced

ERRORS AND ABUSE.

39

physician ; one familiar with the character of the
water, whose duty it is to take charge of the sick as
they arrive ; here, with but one or two exceptions,
those who frequent our watering-places have to rely on
chance for medical aid. Is this as it should be?"

A vague impression seems to pervade the public
mind, that mineral waters, as medicinal agents, are
totally unlike all other medicines, and that, in their
administration, there is no necessity for observing any
cautions, or for adopting extraneous expedients to pro-
cure the best effects of the agent employed. This is
an error as injurious as it is common, and ought to be
corrected in the public mind. Our more potent min-
eral waters ought indeed to be regularly incorporated
into our materia medica, their several qualities properly
defined, and the medical mind thus instructed to regard
them, not only as valuable therapeutical agents, /^r j^,
but as agents capable of extensive and valuable modi-
fications in their application to disease. K pathological
practice should be established in relation to them, not
less strict than in relation to the ordinary remedies of
the shops, and the best means of influencing their
sanative operations on the system understood.

The physician who desires to throw his patient under
the alterative influence of mercury, is not so discour-
aged as to abandon the remedy, if it chance at first to
run off by the bowels, and thus thwart his object ; but,
either by changing the method of using his medicine,
or by uniting with it some soothing astringent, he
ultimately effects the important object in view. Neither
should the patient be discouraged in the use of a min-
eral water because it occasionally manifests a vagrant
and improper effect ; for facilities can be commanded
to control its operations, as readily as we can control
the improper operations of mercury. Such facilities
may generally be found, either in an increase or diminu-
tion of the quantity taken, — an alteration oii\\Q periods
at which it has been taken, — or in the manner of using

40

MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

it (where gases prevail), in relation to its gaseous or
ungaseous form. Occasionally medical adjuvants -are
found necessary, and then I have been in the habit of
using those most simple, and those which least derange
the animal economy.

As a general rule, I have found mineral waters most
serviceable in those cases in which the stomach and
general system tolerated them readily ; yet such tolera-
tion depends so much upon the proper preparation of
the system, and the manner of using the water, that the
patient should by no means infer that it is unsuited to
his case simply because it has manifested some im-
proper operation in the commencement. For, as before
intimated, it will often happen, that by changing the
method of using the water, or by the administration of
some appropriate medicine, the difficulty will be re-
moved, and the water afterwards act most pleasantly
and profitably upon the system.

Liability to Mistake in Reference to Sulphur Waters. —
While on this subject, it is not inopportune, I con-
ceive, to allude to a popular and common error in
reference to the quality of sulphur waters in general, —
an error into which the intelligent as well as the igno-
rant are prone to fall : I allude to the very common
mistake of forming a judgment as to the strength and
value of a sulphur water merely from its taste and
smell. Most persons who have not carefully investi-
gated the subject are ready to believe that they have
discovered a valuable sulphur fountain when they have
found a water abounding in sulphuretted gas. This,
as a general thing, would be a mistake, and, as it is a
mistake that might lead to a profitless use of such
waters by invalids, it seems proper that attention should
be distinctly called to it.

I have elsewhere* sufficiently contested the idea that

* Chapter on the " Relative Influence of the Gaseous and Solid
Contents of the White Sulphur Water."

LIABILITY TO MISTAKE.

41

sulphuretted hydrogen gas ought to be regarded as an
efficient medicinal agent, except so far as its nervine
and stimulant qualities give it such claims. I do not
now propose to go over the arguments for the correct-
ness of this opinion, — they are sufficiently set forth in
the chapter alluded to, — but merely to enter up this
caveat for the benefit of sulphur water drinkers, — that
the mere fact of water being strongly impregnated with
sulphuretted gas is not, of itself, a sufficient evidence
that it is a valuable remedial agent.

We often see waters abounding in this gas, and, to
the taste and smell, very much resembling the best of
our standard waters, and hence imagined by many to
be identical in quality and equal in strength to them,
but which, upon trial, are ascertained to have but little
medicinal value, and are found, by analysis, essentially
without body, with little efficiency in their medicinal
salts; or, with a combination of saline matters not well
adapted to give them medicinal virtue.

Neither does the color nor abundance of deposits
made by such waters, as they flow from their source,
do more than afford a problematical evidence of their
value.

First. Because it is to the quality of the saline mat-
ters, rather than to their abundance, that we are to look
for medicinal efficacy; and,

Second. Because the color of the natural deposits
of all sulphur waters, unmixed with foreign bodies, as
I have elsewhere said, is always essentially the same,
being invariably white or opaque-white ; the various
shades of blue, gray, red, black, etc., being occasioned
by the influence of light and shade, or being chemical
changes, occasioned by their coming in contact with
foreign bodies.

The color of the deposits of such waters, it will be
seen, then, cannot to any degree indicate their quality
or value. A large amount of deposit of saline matters,
yielded by any mineral water, is strong presumptive

42

MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

evidence of its strength, but is not conclusive evidence
of its medicinal value, in the absence of a knowledge
of the peculiar quality and combination of such saline
matters. Hence we should not hastily judge of the
value of a mineral water by the color of its deposits, nor
even by the large amount of its deposits, but by their
quality, and the proportions in which they are relatively
combined in the water, forming a compound suited to
the great mission of modifying and healing disease.

Springs are occasionally found that abound, either
largely or sparsely, in sulphuretted gas, and that con-
tain but little saline salts ; and yet such springs are
often valuable for particular forms or types of disease,
and are rendered so from the quality and fortunate
combination of their salts. On the other hand, waters
may abound largely in saline matters, and some of
these saline matters be valuable, too, as single agents,
yet the entire compound which they form may not be
well adapted for sanatory and medicinal influences.

CHANGING FROM SPRING TO SPRING.

A very common error, in the use of Mineral Waters,
is the belief that the patient should often change from
one water to another, and that no one should be used
longer than some given number of days, and this with-
out any reference to its effects upon the system. This
absurd notion leads many persons to fly from spring to
spring, performing in a few weeks or days the circuit
of the whole '■'spring region,'" and without remaining
long enough at any one to receive permanent benefit.
Now, if the position heretofore laid down be correct,
that "mineral waters, like all other medicines, cure
disease by exerting effects upon the animal economy,"
the impropriety will be obvious to all of rapidly has-
tening from one fountain to another, without tarrying
long enough at any to receive those effects upon the
body which are necessary to a cure. Such a water-

CHANGING FROM SPRING TO SPRING.

43

drinker acts like the "maid of all work," always busy,
but accomplishing nothing.

What would be thought of the physician who, hav-
ing decided that his patient must undergo the influence
of alterative action upon his system, and having put
him upon a course of mercury to accomplish the object,
should, just before this drug would have accomplished
the end, discontinue its use, and put him upon iodine;
and, just as this was about to alterate the system,
abandon it and substitute sarsaparilla ; and thus, from
one drug to another, running through the whole routine
of alterative remedies, without giving any sufficient
time to effect the object ? This would surely be an
absurd method of practice ; and yet it would not be
more absurd than the course we often see pursued by
visitors at mineral springs, — who literally waste their
whole time in going from fountain to fountain, and
thus debar themselves of all permanent good, by spend-
ing their time rather among the springs than at any one
of them. The state of mind, which leads invalids thus
improperly to act, is often induced from the random
opinions or injudicious advice of their fellow-sufferers,
whom they meet with at the various watering-places.
One will tell another that they have seen or heard of
some person that was cured at once, at this, that, or
the other spring. Among the Virginia springs, for in-
stance, you will be assured by one that the "White"
is the place; by another, that the "Salt" is better
suited to your case; a third informs you that you would
do better at the "Blue;" while others will tell you
there is nothing like the "Red," the "Sweet," the
"Warm," the "Hot." Thus are the minds of per-
sons frequently perplexed, until they come to the con-
clusion to "make the rounds," and try them all for a
day or two. In this way the hapless invalid is often
led to fritter away the whole time he remains in the
mountains, without deriving permanent advantage from
''all the springs,'' when, very probably, the time he

44

MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

had fruitlessly spent at them all would have been suf-
ficient to cure him at any one of the7n.

Let it be distinctly understood that these remarks
are meant for the serious invalid only. Persons who
visit the springs for amusement or pleasure, or those
who go merely as a relaxation from business, and re-
quire only the tone which travel and mountain air can
give, may, with great propriety, go from spring to
spring, and spend their time just where they are the
happiest. But for the invalid who has something for
the waters to do, it is not so ; he should first wisely de-
termine which of the springs is best calculated to cure
his disease, and, having settled this important question,
should persevere in the use of that particular water,
carefully watching its effects, and "not be carried
about by every wind of doctrine," but continue the
use of the agent thus wisely selected, either until its
inapplicability has been proven, or until it produces
the specific effects which he desires. This being ac-
complished, there may be, and often is, a necessity for
visiting other springs.*

DRESS.

Delicate persons, visiting the mountains or colder
latitudes for health, should be particularly cautious on
the subject of dress. It is rather more easy to dress
with the ever-varying fashions, than to dress appropri-
ately for all the weather that happens in mountainous
regions generally, during the watering seasons. The
weather, in such situations, is often so variable and
uncertain as to make it a good general rule for the
invalid to dress without reference to any particular
state of it, but always warm and comfortable, with (in
most cases) but little change from his dress in the
spring season before he reaches the mountains.

* See chap, iii., on " Prescribing Mineral Waters."

B/eESS, DIET, EXERCISE, ETC.

45

Some invalids will be benefited by constantly wear-
ing soft flannel next the skin, not only because it keeps
lip a more uniform temperature than linen, but also
because of the gentle excitement it occasions on the
surface of the body. The best summer dress, however,
which I have ever seen worn next the body, — and
always a valuable acco77tpainment of fla7inel, winter
and summer, — is 7voven silk. I am led to believe,
from experience, that silk, worn next the skin, is the
very best protection we can command against the
influence of cold. In rhettmatism and neuralgia, a
covering of woven silk is a valuable remedy; and for
all delicate persons, and for those peculiarly suscep-
tible to colds, it is a most invaluable shield to the body.
The superiority of silk over every other covering is
probably owing to its peculiarity as a non-conductor
of electricity; but whether this be so or not is left to
the astute medical philosopher to determine ; it is suf-
ficient for me to know the fact of its superior efficacy,
without stopping to account for it.

Since the above paragraph was first written, I have
had twenty-five years' additional observation of the use
of silk as a covering for delicate and susceptible per-
sons ; and the result is, that I am more than ever con-
vinced of its great superiority. Indeed, such persons,
while in our variable climate, and under the influence
of sulphur waters, that increase the susceptibility of the
system, cannot, by any other dress, so effectually secure
themselves against the encroachment of cold, as by the
use of silk sacks worn next the skin. Nor ought this
precaution to be neglected by such, especially as the
existence of a cold always renders the use of the waters
less efficacious, and sometimes positively injurious, for
the time it may continue.

DIET, EXERCISE, ETC.
Diet and exercise, during the use of mineral water,
are of too much importance to be passed over without

5

46 MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

notice. It is to be regretted that so little, as relates to
diet, is placed within the power of the invalid at our
watering-places generally. Usually there is but one
general system of living at all such places, and this
invariably a system very ill adapted to the invalid.

Persons using mineral water may ordinarily indulge,
in moderation, in that diet which they found to agree
best with them at home. Imprudences as to the kind
of food, or of excess in its quantity, should be as care-
fully avoided by the invalid while using such Avater, as
when under treatment by other medical means. This,
however, is by no means commonly the case.

Mineral waters generally remove acidity from the
stomach, and sharpen both the appetite and the diges-
tion ; hence it is often really difficult for the invalid to
restrain himself at table, and we might be astonished
to see the quantity and quality of food he sometimes
consumes. Dyspeptics, as might be expected, suffer
most from impropriety in diet; indeed, I am persuaded
that more than half the good these waters would other-
wise achieve, in such cases, is prevented by impropriety
in diet. But the evil of over- and improper feeding,
although most manifest in dyspeptics, is by no means
confined to such. Upon the subject of diet, Dr. Bell
has well observed, that "slow and laborious digestion,
heartburn, disordered kidneys, discoloration of the
skin, and some affections of the liver, often the effects
of excessive eating and drinking alone, are not to be
readily cured by visiting mineral springs, and keeping
up the same kind of living." If they (and the remark
applies to all invalids) be sincerely desirous of gaining
health, they will most successfully do so by simplifying
their regimen, and abstaining from all those appliances
to force appetite and tickle the taste, which they had
formerly used in the shape of ardent spirits, wine, and
malt liquors, fried meats, pastry, and unripe fruits. In
fine, we may sum up in a few words, by repeating,
after the great father of medicine, that all excesses

PERIODS FOR THEIR USE.

47

are dangerous ; a maxim every one must have fully-
tested.

Eating much in the evening, sitting up late, pro-
longed and immoderate dancing, remaining too long
in the cool air of the evening, are often the cause of
many unpleasant complaints, which might have been
easily prevented.

The passions are to be kept in check by avoiding
every exciting cause, either of the boisterous or melan-
choly kind. A giddy chase after pleasure and luxu-
rious indulgence are scarcely more reprehensible than
an indolent and secluded life. The kind and amount
of exercise to be indulged in by the patient must, of
course, be regulated by the nature of his disease and
the attendant circumstances ; walking, riding on horse-
back or in a carriage, may be selected, as one or the
other may be best adapted to the physical ability and
to the inclinations of the patient ; but, in some form
or other, all whose strength will admit of it should take
regular exercise in good weather.

PERIODS FOR THE USE OF MINERAL WATERS.

The best time for using mineral waters is in the
morning before breakfast, when the stomach is empty
and the absorbent vessels are most active. They may
generally be used to advantage an hour or two before
dinner, and before going to bed at night.

In many cases it is best that the whole that is taken
in the course of the day be divided into two parts,
and taken, either in the morning before breakfast, and
a short time before dinner, or in the morning, and a
short time before going to bed at night.

Advantage is not often secured by such waters taken
before supper ; and often such use of them — except a
very moderate use — is prejudicial, from their prone-
ness, when thus taken, to run off by the kidneys.

As a general rule, mineral waters, and especially

48 MINERAL WATERS IN GENERAL.

alterative waters, have their best effects when taken be-
fore breakfast, and before going to bed at night. There
are some, however, who do not bear them well at
night; and attention should always be paid to this cir-
cumstance.

Such waters should not be used immediately before
or after a meal ; nor should glass after glass ordinarily
be taken in quick succession. By such imprudent use
the stomach is overtasked, and unpleasant consequences
result, such as eructations, giddiness, an unpleasant
sense of fullness, and sometimes permanent injury of
the stomach with atonic dyspepsia.

LENGTH OF TIME TO USE MINERAL WATERS.

The length of time invalids should continue the use
of mineral waters depends entirely upon the nature of
the case for which they are used, the manner of using,
and the susceptibilities of the system. Some believe
that they will exert all th»ir sanative influences in a
given number of days; and then should be discon-
tinued. The use of such waters should not be limited
to a given number of days without careful regard to
effects. Some cases will be thrown as fully under their
curative influences in two weeks as others will be in
four, or even eight ; and yet they may be equally well
adapted to each case. In every case of their adminis-
tration, respect should rather be had to the effects they
are producing than to the time they have been admin-
istered.

They never cure disease until they have first produced
effects upon the system, — effects which can always be
distinguished by the experienced observer, during the
progress of their operation, with the same certainty
with which he can distinguish the effects of any of the
articles of the materia medica.

It often happens that invalids use mineral waters that
are well adapted to their cases, and use them assidu-

HO IV LONG TO USE THEM. ^g

ously for several weeks, without deriving a particle of
permanent benefit ; and this in consequence of so im-
properly using them, both in time and quantities, as to
force the water out of the system by the emunctories,
without touching the case, — without being permitted to
tarry long enough to produce those salutary effects
which must precede a cure. This is especially true in
reference to waters that cure disease mainly through
their alterative influences.

The range of time within which the full effects of
mineral waters may be expected is from two to eight
weeks, according to the Jiature of the case, a proper use
of the retnedy, and the general susceptibility of the party
using the in.

Sulphur waters, that benefit mainly through their
alterative powers, require a somewhat longer use to
produce their full effect than do the saline, acidulous,
or ferruginous waters. I have very rarely seen the full
alterative effects of the White Sulphur attained within
two weeks ; and have generally found that from three
to six weeks' persevering use of it was necessary to
insure its full effects in confirmed and obstinate cases.

5°

USE OF MEDICINES AND

CHAPTER III.

USE OF MEDICINES AND DIFFERENT MINERAL WATERS.
Prescribing Mineral Waters,

The judicious administration of mild and appropri-
ate medicines, in connection with the use of mineral
waters, with the object of facilitating their operations
upon the system, is often a matter of primary impor-
tance.

All writers who treat of mineral waters as medicinal
agents urge upon invalids the propriety of obtaining
experienced medical advice before commencing their
use, and allude to the occasional necessity of using
medicines in connection with them in obstinate cases.
But the circumstances under which medicines should
be used, and the primary necessity of the practice in
particular cases, have not always been as fully insisted
on as the merits of such practice demand. This, we
suppose, has been owing rather to the positions oc-
cupied by the various authors on mineral waters, than
to any want on their part of a proper appreciation of
the subject. A portion of such authors, although
learned and scientific men, and highly distinguished in
their profession, have not, nevertheless, had a large
actual experience in the treatment of disease at min-
eral fountains and with mineral waters. Hence the
teachings of such have, very properly, been designed
to show the value and adaptation of such agents as in-
dependent remedies, rather than as important adjuvants
in particular cases; consequently they have treated
of them in a somewhat isolated sense, and as they
would have treated of any single article of the materia

OF DIFFERENT MINERAL WATERS.

51

medica. The few who have written upon the subject,
whose residence at mineral fountains has afforded en-
larged opportunities for investigating the peculiar ef-
fects of the waters in individual and diversified cases,
may, to some extent, have been restrained by motives
of delicacy from enlarging upon this subject as fully
as they should have done. Such authors, being settled
as practitioners at the fountains of which they write,
may not unnaturally have felt, that for them to urge
upon the invalid visitor the necessity of medical advice
and assistance, however important they might esteem
it, and with however much of candor and disinterest-
edness they might do so, would possibly subject them
to invidious reflections by the illiberal, or even from
the discreet stranger, who, not fully appreciating the
importance of the subject, might misapprehend their
well-meant motives.

Many persons are disposed to regard mineral waters,
in their curative powers, as a panacea, and, like the
much-extolled catholicons of the day, unaided by other
appliances, and in despite of scientific directions and
all the rules of art, adapted to cure all manner of dis-
eases. I need scarcely say that such opinions, when
entertained, are very erroneous, and that the judgment
which regards them as important remedies in natiwe s
materia medica, having, indeed, a wide and valuable
scope of operation, but, like all other remedies, neces-
sarily demanding various modifications and cautions in
their use, would be far more correct and reliable.

Many consecutive years of experience, in the admin-
istration of mineral waters, have given me great con-
fidence in their employment ; indeed, I yield to no one
in admiration of their happy adaptation for many ills
to which flesh is heir. As independent remedies, totally
disconnected with all other medicinal aid, they are
often fully sufficient to attain the sanative end desired.
So, too, we occasionally find a single article of the
jnateria medica, unaided by other articles, capable of

52

USE OF MEDICINES AND

producing every beneficial effect that the case demands.
Doubtless, like results occasionally take place from the
employment of the various panaceas or catholicons of
the age. But where we meet with one case in which a
single article of the materia medica, or an artificial
panacea, unaided by all other means, satisfactorily ful-
fills all indications of treatment in chronic disease, and
results in effecting a cure, we meet with perhaps ten
cases in which adjunctive remedies should be employed.
Be this as it may, however, in reference to the remedies
just alluded to, we know it to be true of alterative min-
eral waters, not only as to the ceriainty, but especially
as to the celerity, with which they effect cures in obsti-
nate cases. This view of the subject is not only con-
sonant with reason, but also with the general theories
and teachings of the profession.

There is an opposite view of the subject, however,
which alleges that any medical agent, adapted to the
case, is sufficient of itself for the case, and should
therefore stand unassisted by any other means. This
theory, it will be perceived, leads necessarily into em-
piricism, and to the discarding of all science and dis-
crimination in the use of remedies j and, consequently,
ignores the value of all knowledge and experience in
the profession.

Now, I admit that if the selected agent be so fully
and entirely adapted as really to fill every indication
in the case, then the proposition I am combating is
true, — and under such circumstances every judicious
physician would say, let it alone. But such full and
complete adaptations are but occasionally found to ex-
ist, either in medicines or mineral waters; and, in the
use of the latter, even under ordinary happy adapta-
tions, we often find a state of things that primarily
existed, or has been superadded, that must be remedied
by appropriate medicines, or the water, so far from
proving beneficial, will act injuriously. Besides, ad-
mitting the mineral water to be never so well adapted

OF DIFFERENT MINERAL WATERS.

53

to the case in which it is being used, its slow progress
in resolving congestions and in overcoming diseased
action may, in many cases, be greatly hastened by
judicious adjuvants, skillfully and timeously admin-
istered.

In obstinate cases in which it is desirable to procure
the specific operations of a mineral water upon any
organ, much time, to say the least, is saved by uniting
with the water, for a few days, some adjuvant that spe-
cifically determines to such organ. By such a procedure,
the water may be invited io the organ, and establish its
action upon it much sooner than it would without such
aid.

In diseases of the abdominal viscera generally, the
patient may often economize a week or more of the
time which otherwise it would be necessary for him to
use the water, by the proper introduction of some
medical adjunct to the end that has been intimated.

The proportion of invalids, especially of such as are
suffering with biliary derangements, that will derive
increased benefit from the employment of mild altera-
tive cathartics, to precede or accompany the use of
alterative mineral waters, is as ten to one at least ; and,
in nine cases out often, the subject of biliary derange-
ments will economize a week or te7i days, in the neces-
sary use of such waters, by the occasional use of medi-
cines.

The general rule, which may with safety be laid down
for the guidance of those about to use mineral waters,
is to have their stomach and bowels well cleansed of
fjecal and mucous collections, and to bring down, as
near as may be, the circulation to a natural standard.

A medical rule, in attempting the cure of disease, is
to subdue inordinate and evident disturbance of the
system before we administer medicines with a view to
their peculiar effect. Thus, when the stomach and
bowels are highly irritable, or inflamed, we decline
administering purgatives ; when there is acute pain in

54 USE OF MEDICINES, ETC.

the head, with high fever, we withhold opium and other
remedies of what are termed the class of anodynes ;
when the liver is acutely inflamed, we are wary in giv-
ing anti-bilious medicines, so called. Violent and
regularly recurring chills do not justify the use of the
barks, if the interval be marked by symptoms of high
action of the blood-vessel system generally, or of great
determination to the head, liver, or stomach. All
these several states of violent disease are to be miti-
gated before we enter upon specific remedies. Without
preliminary treatment in the cases supposed, purgatives
would, so far from carrying off matters oppressive to
the stomach and bowels, and promoting secretions from
their inner surfaces, only serve still further to irritate
and inflame these parts ; opiates would increase the
pain in the head and restlessness, and even cause de-
lirium ; bark would convert the remittent into more
of a continual fever, and increase the distress of the
stomach, and exasperate the prior existing pain in the
liver.

From these and other analogous facts, we learn the
important truth, — overlooked by the public generally,
and sneered at by impudent quacks, — that the oper-
ations and remedial effects of any one medicine, or
combination of medicines, are purely relative, and de-
pend on the state of the animal economy at the time.
These views should be carefully borne in mind, as well
in the administration of mineral waters as of the ordi-
nary remedies of the apothecary's shop.

I desire not to be misunderstood, however, as ex-
pressing the opinion that medicines are always necessary
in ordinary cases submitted to the use of mineral waters.

When the powers of the water are sufficient to an-
swer, with tolerable certainty and celerity, the sanative
indications, it is safe, and generally proper, to with-
hold medical means altogether; or, if occasionally
any should be demanded, to employ such only as are
mild and suasive in their character.

PRESCRIBING MINERAL WATERS.

PRESCRIBING MINERAL WATERS.

55

The medical adviser at popular watering-places has,
necessarily, very delicate and responsible duties de-
volved upon him. To some extent he must be the re-
cipient, in a professional point of view, of the confi-
dence of the invalid stranger who has left a distant
home, to seek at medicinal fountains the best remedy
for the maladies of which he hopes to be relieved.
This confidence, while it is agreeable to the honorable
mind, is not without onerous responsibility.

A sufficient knowledge of our various mineral
springs, to enable the medical adviser to judge cor-
rectly of their specific character and adaptations, un-
folds at once to him a wide field for the exercise of
skill and judgment, in selecting for his patient the one
best adapted to the nature and wants of his case.

In the Virginia Spring region, for instance, we are
surrounded by a perfect galaxy of mineral fountains,
of almost every variety and adaptation. We have the
Sulphur wzitr?,, in their various modifications; we have
the Chalybeates, simple and compound, in great va-
riety ; the Saline, in several varieties ; the Aluminous,
or acidulated aluminous chalybeates, in three or four
varieties; and thermal waters of every temperature,
from 62° to 106°. All these fountains of healing, with
their varied modified influences (for each one differs
in some essential particulars from all the others), should
be regarded as so many different articles in nature's
materia medica, each possessing adaptations somewhat
peculiar to itself, for the different diseases or states of
the system. Here, then, is a wide range for the medi-
cal adviser, and his tact and success, in advising most
wisely, will necessarily depend upon his acquaintance
with the peculiar qualities and specific effects of all
these different agents.

Again, such an adviser, to be most useful to his
patients, must be careful not to be influenced by his

56

PRESCRIBING MINERAL WATERS.

loco personce, or to regard the particular fountain over
wliose medical direction he presides, as a catholicon,
and adapted better than any other to all sorts and con-
ditions of cases. A medical adviser, at a mineral
fountain, could not well fall into a greater error, or
more clearly evidence a want of wise discrimination,
than in finding his remedy, in all cases, in the particu-
lar agent which he immediately directs ; for, in the
nature of things, such universal preference would often
be misplaced. Standing in the delicate relation which
such an adviser holds to the invalid public, he must
regard the various mineral agencies around him some-
what in the same light in which he regards the various
medicines of the apothecary's shop, and should wisely
and freely choose among them for the use an'd benefit
of his patients. Any other course would be empirical,
— ^hazardous to the best interest of the unfortunate in-
valid, and utterly unworthy of his confidence.

Under such proper and discriminating advice, the
patient will often, perhaps in a majority of cases, be
led in the course of his cure to the use of several of the
different fountains. The same water, however potent
it may be, is not always, nor even generally, sufficient
to meet all the indications that exist in the case, and,
unaided, to produce a perfect cure. There is nothing
more common than the certainty with which a particu-
lar water accomplishes particular results upon the ani-
mal economy, while it fails to accomplish other results
that will be readily achieved by other and dissimilar
waters. For instance, while some waters are well
adapted to produce alterative effects upon the secretory
organs, and, by their general emulging and changing
influences, to bring the system into a natural or physio-
logical type, — actions and influences that are primary
in their importance, and essential to a cure ; this being
accomplished, some of the more tonic and nervine
waters will be found far better adapted to strengthen
the animal fibre and to complete the cure.

BEST TIME TO VISIT SPRINGS.

57

Potent waters, through the whole catalogue of
springs, have each their sphere of usefulness, that must
not be overlooked by the discriminating adviser in the
treatment of particular cases; and hence they all should
be arrayed and labeled, as it were, in nature's great
laboratory, and prescribed intelligently, and as their
use is indicated in the variety of diseases that are
sought to be healed by such agents.

THE BEST PERIOD OF THE YEAR FOR INVALIDS
TO VISIT THE SPRINGS.

From the \st of June to the middle of July is prefer-
able to an earlier or later period of the season. There
are substantial reasons why invalids should make their
visits within the range of time mentioned, and why
they should prefer an early rather than a late period of
this range of time.

ist. Because during this period we have, at our
watering-places generally, the most delightful weather
of the season, — neither too warm nor too cool for
exercise in the open air.

2d. Because the crowd of mere pleasure-seekers has
not set in up to this period ; and hence they are less
crowded, and all the facilities and comforts of a quiet
home are more easily and certainly obtained.

3d. In the early period of the summer solstice, just
after the cold and inclement weather of winter and
early spring, and before the sufferer has become ener-
vated by the heat of summer, chronic disease more
readily yields to the alterative influence of the waters,
and, consequently, the invalid is more certainly and
speedily placed under their curative powers ; and,

4th. Because invalids, whose maladies have been
essentially modified or cured in the early part of the
summer, have a longer period of favorable weather in
which to perpetuate and confirm their amendment and
final cure, than those who might receive influences

6

58

BEST TIME TO VISIT SPRINGS.

equally beneficial, but obtained at a later period of the
summer.

I might allude to other advantages enjoyed by the
invalid who makes his visit to mineral waters early in
the season ; but let it suffice to remark that my long
observation as a medical director of such waters has
abundantly satisfied me of the decided advantage that
attaches to early rather than late visitation by those
who are seeking to secure the largest amount of benefit
from their use. Hence I earnestly suggest to invalids
who design visiting mineral waters, not to postpone
their visit to a late period of the season, and to choose
an early rather than a late period of the time I have
designated as preferable.

WEST VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA SPRINGS.

59

CHAPTER IV.

WEST VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA SPRINGS.

In treating of the springs of West Virginia and Vir-
ginia, I shall not be guided by their chemical classifi-
cation, nor strictly by their medicinal importance, but
in accordance with their location in the geographical
divisions of these States.

The Springs strictly pertaining to what has long
been known as the '^Spring Region'' will be first no-
ticed; next, those located in or contiguous to the
great Shenandoah Valley, formed by the Appalachian
chain of mountains on the west, and the Blue Ridge
Mountain on the east. Then will follow those found
on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge and in the
plane country stretching towards the ocean, known as
Eastern Virginia. Lastly, those located in the south-
western counties of the State, commonly known as
Southwest Virginia.

The Virginia and West Virginia Springs present
great variety in chemical and therapeutic character,
comprising various and diff'erently compounded stilphur
waters ; the chalybeates, simple and compounded ; the
acidulous or carbonated ; the saline; the aluminated
chalybeates — with thermal waters, varying in tempera-
ture from 62 to 106 degrees of Fahrenheit.

Of these Springs, the sulphurous waters are found in
greater abundance and in greater strength immediately
on the western and eastern slopes of the Alleghany
Mountains, the strongest being on their western declen-
sion. The simple chalybeates are found in every great
section of both States, but in greatest strength along
the course of the great Appalachian range, extending

6o WEST VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA SPRINGS.

from the northeastern to the southwestern extremities
of both of them.

The acidulous or carbotiated waters, as well as the
aluminaied chalybeates, exist in the greatest variety and
strength in the central portions of the Great Valley, in
the counties of Augusta, Rockbridge, Alleghany, Mon-
roe, and Craig, but are found in several other counties,
south and west, along the course of the Alleghany and
Blue Ridge Mountains. Waters more or less distinctly
belonging to the saline class are found in the same
range of country.

The most abundant mineral waters in these States,
except the simple chalybeate, are the aluminated cha-
lybeates, or ahwi waters as they are commonly called.
They are generally found adjacent to faults in the
strata, or where the rocks give evidence of derange-
ment from their natural position, and near the junc-
tion of slate with limestone. They are invariably, I
believe, an infiltration through talcose slate which lies
a few feet below the surface of the earth. I have ex-
amined numerous specimens of these waters, obtained
from various neighborhoods, from the head-waters of
the Shenandoah River to the extreme eastern border of
Tennessee, and have found them to possess the leading
chemical characteristics of the springs of this class
that have been brought into popular use.

I believe that all the mineral waters in this great
range of disturbance are slightly thermal, compared
with the temperature of the common springs in their
vicinity. But the boundary of the thermal waters,
commonly so called, is only about fifty miles in length
and of narrow dimensions, having the Hot and Warm
Springs for its northern, and the Sweet Chalybeate
and Sweet Springs for its southern extremes.

ROUTES TO THE PRINCIPAL SPRINGS. 6 1

ROUTES TO THE PRINCIPAL WEST VIRGINIA AND
VIRGINIA SPRINGS.

The results of the war between the Northern and
Southern States so materially deranged traveling facili-
ties to many of these Springs as to make the following
directions essential to parties at a distance who desire
to visit them.

Travelers from the North or East to any of the
principal Springs in the mountains of West Virginia
or Virginia, to avail themselves most largely of rail-
road facilities, must necessarily make Staunton a
point in their journey.

From Staunton, the Rockbridge and Bath Alum, the
Warm, Hot, Healing, White Sulphur, Salt, and Red
Sulphur Springs, are conveniently reached by railroad,
with small amount of staging, and in the order in
which they are here set down. The Sweet and Red
Sweet are on the same general route, and are reached
by a detour of seventeen miles from the White Sul-
phur.

The Yellow, the Montgomery White, the Alleghany
and Coiners Springs, are reached by the traveler goiiig
East on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad
in the order in which they are here enumerated.

Western travelers to the White Sulphur, or other
Springs in their region, may reach them most con-
veniently from Louisville or Cincinnati, by boat to
Huntington on the Ohio River, from thence by the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad to the Springs.

6*

62 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

CHAPTER V.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Location and General Physical Characteristics — Its Strength uniformly
the same— Does not lose its Strength by parting with its Gas — Does
not deposit its Salts when Quiescent — Its Gas flital to Fish — Its Early
History — Known to the Indians as a " Medicine Water" — First
\ised by the Whites in 1778 — Progress of Improvements, and present
Condition — Analyses of Mr. Hayes and Professor Rogers.

The White Sulphur Springs are located in the county
of Greenbrier, West Virginia, on Howard's Creek, and
on the immediate confines of the " Great Western
Valley," being but six miles west of the Alleghany
chain of mountains, which separates the waters that
flow into the Chesapeake Bay from those which run
into the Gulf of Mexico.

The waters of the spring find their way into Howard's
Creek, two hundred yards from their source, which,
after flowing five miles, empties into Greenbrier River.

The spring is situated on an elevated and beautifully
picturesque valley, hemmed in by mountains on every
side. Kate' s Mountcmi, celebrated as the theatre of
the exploits of a chivalrous heroine in the days of In-
dian troubles, is in full view, and about two miles to
the south ; to the west, and distant from one to two
miles, are the Greenbrier Mountains ; while the tower-
ing Alieghany, in all its grandeur, is found six miles to
the north and east.

The spring is in the midst of the celebrated "Spring
Region," having the "Hot Spring" thirty-five miles
to the north; the "Sweet," seventeen miles to the
east; the " Salt," and "Red," the one twenty-four, the
other forty-one miles, to the south; and the "Blue,"

62 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

CHAPTER V.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Location and General Physical Characteristics— Its Strength uniformly
the same— Does not lose its Strength by parting with its Gas — Does
not deposit its Salts when Quiescent — Its Gas fatal to Fish — Its Early
History — Known to the Indians as a " Medicine Water" — First
used by the Whites in 1778 — Progress of Improvements, and present
Condition — Analyses of Mr. Hayes and Professor Rogers.

The White Sulphur Springs are located in the county
of Greenbrier, West Virginia, on Howard's Creek, and
on the immediate confines of the "Great Western
Valley," being but six miles west of the Alleghany
chain of mountains, which separates the waters that
flow into the Chesapeake Bay from those which run
into the Gulf of Mexico.

The waters of the spring find their way into Howard's
Creek, two hundred yards from their source, which,
after flowing five miles, empties into Greenbrier River.

The spring is situated on an elevated and beautifully
picturesque valley, hemmed in by mountains on every
side. Kate' s Mountain, celebrated as the theatre of
the exploits of a chivalrous heroine in the days of In-
dian troubles, is in full view, and about two miles to
the south ; to the west, and distant from one to two
miles, are the Greenbrier Mountains ; while the tower-
ing Al/eghany, in all its grandeur, is found six miles to
the north and east.

The spring is in the midst of the celebrated "Spring
Region," having the "Hot Spring" thirty-five miles
to the north; the "Sweet," seventeen miles to the
east; the " Salt," and "Red," the one twenty-four, the
other forty-one miles, to the south; and the "Blue,"

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 63

twenty-two miles to the west. Its latitude is about
37^° north, and its longitude 3^2° west from Wash-
ington. Its elevation above tide-water is two thou-
sand feet. It bursts with unusual boldness from rock-
lined apertures, and is inclosed by marble casements
five feet square and three and a half feet deep. Its
te7nperature is 62° of Fahrenheit, and remains uniformly
the same during the winter blasts and the summer's
heat \ any apparent variation from this temperature
will be found, I think, to be owing to the difference in
thermometers, as repeated trials with the same instru-
ment proved the temperature to be uniform.

The principal spring yields about thirty gallons per
minute; and it is a remarkable fact that this quantity
is not perceptibly increased or diminished during the
longest spells of wet or dry weather; while other bold
springs of the country have failed during the long
droughts of summer, this has invariably observed "the
even tenor of its way." There is no discoloration of
the water during long wet spells, or other evidence
that it becomes blended with common water percolating
through the earth. The quantity and temperature of
this spring being uniform under all circumstances gives
a confidence, which experience in its use has verified,
of its uniform strength and efficacy. The water is
clear and transparent, and deposits copiously, as it
flows over a rough and uneven surface, a white, and
sometimes, under peculiar circumstances, a red and
black, precipitate, composed in part of its saline ingre-
dients. Its taste and smell, fresh at the spring, are
those of all waters strongly impregnated with sulphu-
retted hydrogen gas. When removed from the spring,
and kept in an open vessel for a sufficient length of
time for this gas to escape, or when it has been heated
or frozen for this purpose, it becomes essentially taste-
less diU^ inodorous, and could scarcely be distinguished,
either by smell or taste, from common limestone water.
Its cathartic activity, however, is rather increased than

64 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

diminished when thus insipid and inodorous.* It does
not lose its transparency by parting with its gas, as
many other waters do; nor does it deposit its salts in
the slightest degree when quiescent, not even sufficiently
to stain a glass vessel in which it may be kept.

The gas of this spring is speedily fatal to all animals,
when immersed even for a very short time in its waters.
Small fish thus circumstanced survive but a few mo-
ments, first manifesting entire derangement, with great
distress, and uniformly dying in less than three minutes.

The water is uniform in its saline strength; that is,
it contains in a given quantity, at all seasons, the same
amount of solid contents. Of this fact I am fully satis-
fied, from repeated tests and examinations of it, under
various circumstances, and for many years. It exhibits
occasional and slight variations in the amount of its free
sulphuretted hydrogen gas. This variation is occasioned
mainly, if not entirely, by the condition of the atmos-
phere at the time, and principally by its electrical
condition. Even this variation in the water, however,
is more apparent than real, and is often suspected when
it does not actually exist.

In the absence of chemical tests, the difference in
the water is judged of entirely by taste and smell, prin-
cipally by the latter; and some conditions of the
atmosphere being more favorable than others for the
evolution and diffusion of the gas, the actual relative
amount in evolution is often misjudged.

The springs are surrounded with mountain scenery
of great beauty, and blessed with a most delightful
climate in summer and fall. Independent of the
benefit that may be derived from the waters, a better
situation for invalids during the summer months can
scarcely be imagined. They have the advantage of a
salubrious and invigorating air and an agreeable tem-
perature,— cool at morning and evening, the thermome-

* See chap, vi., on " The Relative Virtues of the Sahne and Gaseous
Contents of the White Sulphur Water."

EARL Y HISTOR Y. 65

ter ranging at those periods, during the summer, between
50° and 60°, and rarely attaining a greater height than
85° at any time of the day, — with an elasticity in the
atmosphere that prevents the heat from being at any
time oppressive, and enabling the invalid to take exer-
cise in the open air during the day without fatigue.

There is but little in the early history of this water-
ing-place especially worthy of preservation.

Tradition says that the charming valley in which it
is situated was once a favorite ^' hu?itij7g-grou?id^'' of the
proud Shawanees, who then owned and occupied this
fair region ; and the numerous ancient graves and rude
implements of the chase, that are found in various parts
of the valley, sufficiently attest the truth of this legend.
That a small marsh, originally contiguous to the spring,
was once a favorite deer and buffalo "lick," is well
known to the oldest white settlers in the country ; and
it is confidently asserted by some of that venerable
class that the spring was known to the Indians as a
^'■medicine water,^^ and that since their migration
across the Ohio they have occasionally been known to
visit it for the relief of rheumatic affections. Whether
this legend be truth or fiction, I cannot avouch ;
authentic history, however, abundantly testifies to the
reluctance with which its ancient owners abandoned
this lovely valley to the rapacious avarice of the in-
vading white man.

During the year 1774, the proud but ill-fated Shawa-
nees, being overpowered by the encroaching colonists
from Eastern Virginia, and having sustained, in Octo-
ber of that year, a signal defeat by the colonial troops,
at Point Pleasant, were forced finally to abandon their
country, and seek shelter and protection with the main
body of their tribe, then living on the waters of the
great Scioto ; not, however, until, by frequent battles
and midnight murders, they had testified their attach-
ment to their ancient hunting-grounds and the graves
of their fathers.

ee WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

The property on which this spring is situated was
originally patented to Nathan Carpenter, one of the
earliest pioneers of the country, who was subsequently
killed by a band of marauding Indians, at a fort at the
mouth of Dunlap's Creek, near where the town of
Covington now stands.

The precise time at which this spring, now so cele-
brated among mineral waters, was first used for the cure
of disease, cannot be ascertained with absolute cer-
tainty. It is believed, however, that a Mrs. Anderson,
the wife of one of the oldest settlers, was the first white
person who tested its virtues as a medicine.

In 1778, this lady, being afflicted with rheumatism,
was borne on a litter, from her residence, ten or fifteen
miles, to the spring, where a tent was spread for her
protection from the weather; and a. '^ dathing-tieb"
provided, by felling and excavating a huge tree that
grew hard by. Here she remained until she entirely re-
covered, drinking from the fountain, and bathing in the
water previously heated in the trough by "hot rocks."
It is reasonable to suppose that the fame of this cure
spread abroad among the "settlers, ' ' and from them into
Eastern Virginia, and among the few "spring-going
folks," who then annually visited the Sweet Springs,
not many miles distant. Accordingly, in 1779, and
from that to 1783, there were annually a few visitors
here, who spread their tents near the spring, no house
having then been erected, and with the rude "trough"
for a bathing-tub, and this protection from the weather,
are reported to have spent their time most agreeably
and profitably. Some of these primitive visitors, "who
dwelt in tents," have visited the springs of late years,
and, with pleasurable emotions, marked out the spot
where their tents stood some sixty years ago, while
they recounted with delight the amusements and pleas-
ures they then enjoyed.

In 1784, 1785, and 1786, numerous "log-cabins"
were erected, not where any of the present buildings

ANALYSIS. 6y

Stand, but immediately around the spring, — not one
of which, or the materials which composed it, is now
remaining.

Mr. Caldwell, until recently the proprietor of the
property, came into possession of it in the year 1808,
but did not personally undertake its improvement
until the summer of 181 8. Before this period, the
buildings for the accommodation of visitors, although
sufficient for the number that then resorted to the
place, were exceedingly rude, being altogether small
wooden huts. The interest and enterprise of the
owner soon led him into a different and more appro-
priate system of improvement, and from small be-
ginnings he went on, progressing in the rapid ratio of
demand, until from the " tent " accommodations in
1779, and the "log-cabins" in 1784, the place now,
both in elegance and extent, exhibits the appearance of
a neat and flourishing village, affording comfortable
and convenient accommodations (including the sur-
rounding hotels) for two thousand persons.*

ANALYSIS.

In the winter of 1842, Mr. Augustus A. Hayes, of
Massachusetts, made an analysis of the White Sulphur
water, at his laboratory in Roxbury, from a few bottles
of water forwarded to him from the spring in the pre-
ceding fall. The following is the result of his examina-
tions : —

"Compared with pure water free from air, its spe-
cific gravity is 1.00254.

"50,000 grains (about seven pints) of this water

* In the spring of 1857, the White Sulphur property was sold to a
company of gentlemen residing principally in Virginia, who (in virtue
of an act of the Legislature) have associated themselves into z. joint-
stock company, under the name of the " White Sulphur Sp7-ings Com-
pany." They have erected the largest building in the Southern
country.

68 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

contained, in solution, 3.633 water grain measures of
gaseous matter, or about 1.14 of its volume, consisting
of—

Nitrogen gas 1-013

Oxygen gas 108

Carbonic acid 2.444

Hydro-sulphuric acid 068

3-633

" One gallon, or 237 cubic inches, of the water con-
tain 16 739-1000 cubic inches of gas, having the pro-
portion of —

Nitrogen gas 4.680

Oxygen gas 498

Carbonic acid 11.290

Hydro-sulphuric acid 271

16.739

"50,000 grains of this water contain 115 735-1000
grains of saline matter, consisting of —

Sulphate of lime 67.168

Sulphate of magnesia 30.364

Chloride of magnesium 859

Carbonate of hme 6.060

Organic matter (dried at 212° F.) 3-740

Carbonic acid 4-584

Silicates (silica 1.34, potash .18, soda .66, magnesia, and a
trace of oxid. iron) 2.960

"5-735
"Unlike saline sulphuretted waters generally, this
water contains a minute proportion of chlorine only,
the sulphates of lime and magnesia forming nearly ten-
elevenths of the saline matter.

" The alkaline bases are also in very small propor-
tion, and seem to be united to the siliceous earths in
combination with a peculiar organic matter. The
organic matter, in its physical and chemical character,
resembles that found in the water of the Red Sulphur
Springs, and differs essentially from the organic matter
of some thermal waters.

"In ascertaining its weight, it was rendered dry at

ANAL YSIS. 6p

the temperature of 212° F. When dry, it is a grayish-
white, translucent solid. When recently separated
from a fluid containing it, it appears as a thin jelly or
mucilage, and gives to a large bulk of fluid a mucous-
like appearance, with the property of frothing by agi-
tation. It unites with metallic oxides and forms com-
pounds both soluble and insoluble. In most cases an
excess of base renders the compound insoluble. The
compound with oxide of silver is soluble in water ; with
baryta and lime it does not form a precipitate, while
magnesia forms with it a hydrous white gelatinous
mass. In acids it dissolves; the oxy-acids do not
change its composition, while they are diluted and
cold ; by boiling they produce sulphuric acid from its
constituent sulphur, and change its carbon to other
forms. In contact with earthy sulphates at a moderate
temperature, it produces hydro-sulphuric acid, ajid to
this source that acid containedin the water may be traced.
This substance does not rapidly attract oxygen from
the atmosphere, and from colored compounds, as some
other organic compounds do. The proportion of
organic matter, like that usually contained in our
waters, is in this water very small \ until forty-nine-
fiftieths of the bulk of a quantity is evaporated, the
residual matter does not become colored, and, when
the saline residue is dried, it is of a pale yellow.

" The medicinal properties of this water are probably
due to the action of this organic substance. The hydro-
sulphuric acid, resulting from its natural action, is one
of the most active substances within the reach of phy-
sicians, and there are chemical reasons for supposing
that, after the water has reached the stomach, similar
changes, accompanied by the product of hydro- sulphuric
acid, take place. ' ' *

* See chap, vi., on " The Relative Virtues of the Saline and Gaseous
Contents of the Wliite Sulphur Water."

7

70

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Professor William B. Rogers also analyzed this water.
The following is the result of his examinations :

Solid matter, procured by evaporation from loo
cubic inches of the water, weighed, after being dried
at 212°, 65.54 grains.

Quantity of each solid ingredient in 100 cubic
inches, estimated as perfectly free from water :

Sulphate of lime 31.680 grains.

Sulphate of magnesia 8.241 "

Sulphate of soda 4.050 "

Carbonate of lime i-530 "

Carbonate of magnesia 0.506 "

Chloride of magnesium 0.071 "

Chloride of calcium o.oio "

Chloride of sodium 0.226 "

Proto-sulphate of iron ; 0.069 "

Sulphate of alumina 0.012 "

Earthy phosphates a trace.

Azotized organic matter blended with a large pro-
portion of sulphur, about 5 "

Iodine, combined with sodium or magnesium.

Volume of each of the gases in a free state, contained
in 100 cubic inches:*

Sulphuretted hydrogen 0.66 to 1.30 cubic inches.

Nitrogen 1.88 cubic inches.

Oxygen 0.19 "

Carbonic acid 3.67 "

* 100 cubic inches amounts to about 3J pints.

SALINE AND GASEOUS CONTENTS. 71

CHAPTER VI.

THE RELATIVE VIRTUES OF THE SALINE AND GASEOUS
CONTENTS OF THE WHITE SULPHUR WATER.

Speculation has existed as to the relative efficacy of
the different component parts of the White Sulphur water
in the cure of disease ; and while some have supposed
that its gaseous contents are essential to its sanative vir-
tues, others, and I think the best-informed observers,
attribute its medicinal virtues mainly to its solid or
saline contents. To the latter opinion the able Professor
of Natural Philosophy in the University of Virginia,
who has carefully examined the water, and other dis-
tinguished chemists and physicians, decidedly incline.

It certainly is a question of interest to the valetudi-
narian, whether he should use this water fresh as it
flows from the spring, abounding in all its stimulating
gas, or whether he should use it after it \izs, partially ox
entirely parted with this gas. To this subject I have
devoted particular attention, having instituted, with
care, various and diversified experiments, in order to
establish something like definite and positive conclu-
sions.

Although the value of this water in what is usually
termed its non-stimulating form, or, in other words, when
deprived of its gas, has long been known to many who
are familiar with its use, it was not until the last few
years that it was commonly used from choice, after it had
been long removed from the spring, or from any cause
had parted with its gaseous contents ; and an opinion,
the correctness of which had never been examined,
prevailed in the minds of many, that in losing its gas
it lost its strength and efficacy.

72

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Having settled at the "White," as the physician of
the place, it became alike my duty and my interest to
investigate the character and operations of its waters
under every possible form and modification in which
they could be presented. In the pursuit of this duty,
I resolved to take no opinion upon "trust," but care-
fully to examine and investigate for myself. A promi-
nent question immediately presented itself for inquiry,
involving the relative merits which the solid and gase-
ous ingredients of the water possess as remedial agents.
It would be tedious, and to many uninteresting, to
detail the several steps and multiplied experiments
which led me to conclusions upon the subject, satis-
factory to my own mind, and upon which I have estab-
lished certain practical principles in the use of the
water, which have enabled me to prescribe it, especially
for nervous and excitable patients, with far greater suc-
cess than heretofore. It is sufficient for my purpose at
present to state that, while I freely admit that the gas,
which abounds in the water, is an active nervine stimu-
/a?it, and therefore may be a most potent agent in some
cases, we are, nevertheless, to look mainly to the solid
conte?its of the water for its alterative power, as well as
for its activity manifested through the emunctories of
the body.

Whether the efficacy of the solid contents be owing
to the specific character of any one, or to all of the
thirteen different salts of which it is composed, and
which exist in the water in the most minute form of
subdivision, and in this condition enter the circulation,
and course through the whole system, applying them-
selves to the diseased tissues ; or whether its efficacy,
to some extent, depends upon the evolution of sulphu-
retted hydrogen gas, after the water has reached the
stomach, is a matter of curious inquiry.

The distinguished chemist, Mr. Hayes, of Rox-
bury, after having bestowed much pains in analyzing
the water, and in studying its peculiar character, comes

SALINE AND GASEOUS CONTENTS. 73

to the following conclusions as to the source of its
medicinal power. After describing, at considerable
length, a certain matter which he found to abound in
it, and which he terms "organic matter,'' in the course
of which he says, "it differs essentially from the or-
ganic matter of some thermal waters," he proceeds to
say : " In contact with earthy sufphates, at a moderate
temperature, it produces hydro-sulphuric acid, and to
this source that acid contained in the water may be
traced. This substance does not rapidly attract oxygen
from the atmosphere, and from colored compounds, as
some other organic compounds do; the mcdici/ial proper-
ties of this water are probably due to the action of this
orgafiic substance. The hydro-sulphuric acid, resulting
from its natural action, is one of the most active sub-
stances within the reach of physicians. There are
chemical reasons for supposing that, after the water has
reached the stotnach, similar changes, accompanied by the
production of hydro-sulphu7'ic acid, take place. ''"^

Before Mr. Hayes had communicated the above
opinion, growing out of his chemical examinations, I
had again and again been much interested with certain
phenomena which I have termed the secotidary forma-
tion of gas in the White Sulphur water. Instances had
frequently been reported to me of the water having
been put into bottles after it had lost its gas entirely,
being void both of taste and smell, and yet, after these
bottles were kept for some days in a warm situation,
and then opened, the water appeared equally strong of
the hydro-sulphuric acid, as it is found to be, fresh at
the fountain.

In a shipment of this water to Calcutta, some years
since, the "Transporting Company" had the water
bottled in Boston, from barrels that had been filled at
the spring six months before. The water, although
tasteless and inodorous, when put into the bottles at

* See Hayes's Analysis, chap. v.

7*

74

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Boston, was found, on its arrival at Calcutta, so
strongly impregnated with the hydro-sulphuric acid as
to render it necessary, under the direction of an in-
telligent gentleman of Boston (who had witnessed
this secondary formation of gas before), to uncork the
bottles for some time before using, that the excess of
gas might escape.

I had, also, known that in the process of thawing
sulphur water, which had been previously frozen, sul-
phuretted hydrogen gas is evolved ; for although the
ice has neither the taste nor smell of sulphur, a strong
smell of sulphuretted hydrogen is manifest as the ice
is returning to water.

I had often observed that individuals who drank the
water entirely stale, and void alike of taste and smell,
were as liable to have eructations of sulphuretted hy-
drogen as those who drank it fresh at the fountain.
These, and other facts connected with the peculiar
operations and effects of the water when used in its
ungaseous form, — operations and effects which it is not
necessary here to refer to, but all going to prove the
secondary formation of gas under certain circumstances,
— had, in my investigations of this water, interested
me exceedingly ; and, consequently, I was not a little
pleased that Mr. Hayes's chemical examinations so
fully sustained the opinions I had been led to enter-
tain from my personal observation.

This opinion of Mr. Hayes, in connection with the
numerous proofs derived from analogy and observation,
of the secojidary formation of sulphuretted hydrogen
gas in the water, would seem to be calculated to har-
monize the opinion advanced by me of the equal
efficacy of the water when deprived of its gas, with the
sentiment entertained by some, that the hydrogen gas
is essential to its sanative operations.

The phenomenon of a secondary formatiofi of sul-
phuretted hydrogen gas in mineral waters has not,
that I am aware of, been noticed before; it certainly

SALINE AND GASEOUS CONTENTS.

75

has not been in relation to the White Sulphur, and we
hope that medical gentlemen, generally, who may have
occasion to use such waters, will direct attention to
this singular fact. For myself I promise still further
to investigate the subject, and may, at some subsequent
period, lay the results of my investigations before the
medical public.

My investigations of the relative virtues of the gase-
ous and saline contents of this water have satisfied me
that the physician, in making up his judgment as to
the best method of administering it in particular cases,
may always properly moot the propriety of using it
fresh as it flows from the spring, — deprived of its gas, —
or with modified quantities. He should bear in mind
that there are cases in which it is preferable that the
water should be used stale, and that, by depriving it in
whole or in part of its gas, he can graduate that
amount of stimulus to the system, which it may de-
mand, and this, in most cases, without lessening the
actively operative or alterative effects of the water.

For some patients, the White Sulphur, as it flows
from the spring, is too stimulating, and hence, before
the noii-stimulating method of using it was introduced,
many such patients left the spring, either without
giving the water a trial, or actually rendered worse by
its stimulating influence. This class of persons can
now use the water, when deprived of its gas, not only
with impunity, but often with the happiest results.
Numerous cures, effected by its use in the last thirty
years, have been in that class of patients by whom the
water, fresh at the Spring, could not have been used
without injury.

In cases of nervous persons, and especially in those
whose brain is prone to undue excitement, I have often
found it necessary, either by freezing or heating the
water, to throw off its gas completely, before it could
be tolerated by the system ; and some of the happiest
results I have ever witnessed from the use of the water
have been achieved by it after being t\\us prepared.

76 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

My object in prescribing White Sulphur has been to
pursue a discriminating or pathological practice. I
regard it as an active and potent medicine, and believe
that, like all such medicines, it should be used with a
wise reference to the nature of the case and the state
of the system. I must not be understood as advancing
the opinio?!,- that this water is always to be preferred
after the escape of its gas. I entertain no such opin-
ion; on the contrary, for a large class of visitors, I
think it preferable that they should avail themselves of
the use of the water either at, or recently removed
from, the fountain, and as it naturally abounds in its
gases. There are other cases in which the exciting in-
fluence of the gas can only be borne in a more limited
degree, and, for such, I permit its partial escape before
using it ; while in a numerous class of cases (and es-
pecially on first commencing the use of the water) I
esteem it indispensable to its quick and beneficial
operation, that its uncombijied gas, which gives taste
and smell, should have escaped.

In recommending the White Sulphur, then, to the
use of the invalid, I esteem it quite as necessary to in-
vestigate the manner of using, as relates to its fresh or
stale quality, as in reference to its dose, or the times
of administering it ; and for neither would I lay down
positive and absolute rules in advance ; for each case
must, in the nature of things, give rules for its own
government.*

* It is now more than thirty years since the author first called public
attention to the importance, indeed, the absolute necessity, in many
cases, of the invalid's using this water in its ungaseous or least stimu-
lating form.

Like all innovations upon old opinions and customs, it met with its
hasty objectors, at first, but actual experience was not long in estab-
lisliing the soundness and value of the recommendation, and now I
have the gratification to know that it is regarded by all well-informed
persons as s. Jixed principle in the use of the water, that, to be used
safely and most beneficially, in very many cases, it must be used with
strict reference to its fresh or stale quality ; or, in other words, to its
stimulating or iton-sfitnulatiftg effects.

SALINE AND GASEOUS CONTENTS.

77

The great value of this water, as a therapeutical
agent, to a large class of persons who visit the foun-
tain, is a fact alike unquestioned and unquestionable.
That in its natural condition, as it flows from the bosom
of the earth, it is happily adapted to numerous cases
of disease, is a truth established by upwards of eighty
years' experience and fully sustained by the numerous
cures that are constantly occurring. The value of the
water, then, fresh as it flows from the spring, and
abounding in its gas, is a truth, so far as I know, that
is unassailed, and which, I believe, is unassailable.
Nevertheless, that there are many cases in which the
gas is not beneficial, in the amount in which it exists
in the fresh water, is a fact which my experience
enables me to assert with the utmost confidence. That
the water, in such cases, therefore, is better without its
gas than with it, follows as effect follows cause. But I
do not teach that the water, per se, and without refer-
ence to cases, should always be preferred without its
gas. I base not my practice upon any such narrow
and exclusive views ; nor do I deny the value of the
agency of the gas in appropriate cases.

I, then, regard the solitl contents of the White Sul-
phur water, either in its direct or indirect influences,
as the main agency in its medicinal efficacy. Whether
the efficacy of the salts of the water be owing to their
absorption into the system as such, or whether it de-
pends upon the secondary formation of hydro-sulphuric
acid gas in the stomach, or whether it ought to be
ascribed to the combination of these different agencies,
I leave for others more fond of speculation to decide.
I have, heretofore, been satisfied with the knowledge of
the efficacy of the solid contents, without much theo-
rizing to explain the why and wherefore.

But, it may be asked, if the gas does good in the
state of a secondary formation in the stomach, would
not a larger quantity, taken with the fresh water, do
more good ? I reply, that this by no means follows in

78 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS '

that class of cases for which I specially advise the un-
gaseous water; for my only objection to the fresh
water, in such cases, is, that it has too much gas. Ad-
mitting that the gas may exert an influence, I allege
that in nervous and excitable cases the quantity is not
only better adapted to the system, but that any given
quantity, under a secotidary formation, excites the sys-
tem less, from its gradual formation in the stomach,
than if suddenly received in volume into that viscus.

Nor do I, because I recommend the ungaseous water
m particular cases, repudiate and disallow all medicinal
agency of the gas, as a general principle. Not at all.
I simply contend tha.t, /or the treatment of certain cases,
there is more of the stimulating gas in the fresh water
than such cases can bear with advantage, and that its
excessive excitation in such cases would be prejudicial
instead of beneficial.

But do I find it necessary to guard the amount of gas
for every water-drinker? or in effect to erect a bed of
Procrustes and oblige every one to conform to its
length.? By no means. A. arrives at the springs, not
much debilitated by disease, and with a firm nervous
and muscular system ; there is no excessive excitability
in his case, and neither his cerebral, nervous, nor vas-
cular system is particularly prone to be affected by
stimulants or exciting medicines. I advise him to
use the water as it flows from the fountain, and if he
should, contrary to expectation, find that it stimulates
him unpleasantly, to set it by for a short time before
using.

B. calls for advice as to the manner of using the
water; his temperament, and the state of his cerebral,
nervous, and vascular system, are the opposite of A.'s ;
his physical energies have been prostrated by disease ;
his nerves are unstrung, and, like his brain, prone to
be painfully affected by stimulants or exciting medi-
cines. He is advised to use the water after it has,
exlhtr partially or eiitirely, parted with its gas ; that is.

SALINE AND GASEOUS CONTENTS. yg

after it has been set by for twelve or eighteen hours, as
the delicacy and excitability of his system demand.

In cases of inflammation of the parenchyma of the
brain, and in other highly excitable conditions of the
cerebral or nervous system, I have the water more care-
fully prepared, either by heating or freezing it.'

In graduating the amount of stimulus, or, if the
gaseous theorist please, the amount of medical mate-
rial, to the wants of the system, — in other words, vary-
ing the prescription to suit the case, — am I departing from
a scientific and approved system of practice ? What
would be thought of the science of a medical man
who invariably used either the same medicine, or the
same dose of any medicine, without regard to the pecu-
liarities or constitution of his patients? Just what
ought to be thought of any one who would direct so
potent an agent as White Sulphur water to be used
a/ike in every variety of constitution and disease.

A popular error, in relation to mineral waters, is that
they exert a sort of mysterious influence on the system ;
and that, as nature has elaborated them in the bowels
of the earth, they are, therefore, formed in the best
possible manner for the cure of disease. This opinion
is not more reasonable than it would be to suppose that
nature has formed ajitiinony in the best possible form,
for the cure of disease, although we know that in this
form, under the administration of the celebrated Basil
Valentine, it slew all the monks in his cloister.

Like all other remedial agents, potent mineral waters
produce certain effects upon the animal economy, and
these €ffc^:ts\^\\\ be beneficial or injurious, as the remedy
is properly or improperly employed. For instance,
C, who is nervous, delicate, and excitable, and is
affected with functional derangement of the organs,
requires to receive, for a certain time, the influence of
a mineral water, which, while it acts as an aperient
upon his bowels, enters his circulation, courses through
his system, and alterates his deranged organs ; being.

8o WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

at the same time, so bland and unstimulating in its
general effects, as not to arouse any one or a series of
organs into undue excitement and rebellion against the
common good. Such a remedy is found in the stale
and ungaseous White Sulphur water.

D. requires the very same effects to be exerted upon
his diseased organs, — but he is of very different tem-
perament and constitution. His brain and nerves are
prone to no unnatural excitement, and he is unaffected
with the thousand physical sensibilities to which C. is
subject. D. may take the White Sulphur water with
impunity and advantage, in any manner most agreeable
to him. In his case its exciting gas constitutes no
objection to its use. The good effects of the water,
so differently used by C. and D., will be the same,
becatise the difference in their cases makes the difference
in the use of the remedy.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

CHAPTER VII.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR THE USE OF THE WHITE
SULPHUR WATER,

Directions meant to be General, not Specific — Must not generally
look to the Sensible Operations of the Water for its Best Effects —
Moderate or Small Quantities Generally Preferable — Necessary
Preparations of the System for the Use of the Water — Sensible
Medicinal Effects of the Water — Effects on the Pulse — Synopsis of
Rules to be Observed — Use of Baths.

Much that might have been said under this head
has been anticipated in the chapter on " Mineral Waters
in General."

It is scarcely necessary to remark, after all that has
heretofore been said of the necessity of using Mineral
Waters with strict refer oice to the nature of the disease
in ivhich they are etnployed, that it is not designed that
the directions herein given shall be considered suffi-
cient to guide in the use of the White Sulphur in all
cases, or in any difficult and important case, to the
exclusion of the more minute and specific directions
which such case may demand. It is my intention
rather to indicate the general rules which ordinarily
must be observed in its administration, than to lay
down definite directions which shall apply to all cases.

Every one who is familiar with the various types of
disease, and with the peculiarities and radical difference
in different constitutions and temperaments, modifying
and influencing diseased action, will at once see the
impossibility of laying down any absolute rule, for the
use of a potent mineral water, that should be strictly
adhered to in all cases. Each case, to a certain extent,

82 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

must, with this, as with all other medicinal agents,
indicate the proper dose, and the proper manner of
administration.

As has been already remarked, it is very common to
attribute the beneficial effects of mineral waters to their
immediate sensible and obvious effects upon the human
body. I have shown this opinion to be erroneous;
that, so far from its being true that such waters uni-
formly manifest their beneficial effects by their active
operations, such operations frequently delay, or entirely
prevent, the good which they otherwise would have
accomplished through the medium of their alterative
effects.

Those who desire to obtain the alterative operations
of the water must, as a general rule, take it in small
quantities, and continue its use for such length of time
as will be sufficient, in common Spring parlance, to
** saturate the system." Patients thus using the water
are apt, however, to become restless and dissatisfied for
the first few days ; so much so, that it is often difficult
to reconcile them to this manner of administration ; .
because, say they, "it is doing me no good;" they
wish to see such tokens of activity as are given by
prompt and vigorous purgation. In a general way, it
is preferable that the water act sufficiently on the
bowels, even when given in reference to its alterative
effects, to obviate the necessity of giving any other
medicine for that purpose ; but it is often better to use
some mild purgative from the shops, to effect this
object for the first few days, than that the quantity of
water should be greatly increased.

I desire, especially, to call the attention of physicians,
and of the intelligent public generally, to this distinctive
alterative quality of the water. In this, more than any-
thing else, it differs from other mineral waters. Many
other waters are found to possess valuable alterative
power, and with an equal or greater cathartic or diu-
retic action, but none have yet been shown to be so

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

83

certainly, promptly, and powerfully alterative upon the
human system.

Some of my unprofessional readers may desire to
know the precise meaning that is attached to the term
Alterative, in a medical sense. This term simply
means to alter ox change ; that is, to alter or change the
chemical composition of the blood, the secretions of
the glands, and the various secretory organs and sur-
faces, the removal of obstructions from the glands or
minute vessels which occur in congestions, irritations,
and inflammations ; thus restoring the blood and the
general organism to their natural condition and to the
performance of their natural functions.

I claim that the water has these effects by being
absorbed, or, in other words, entering into the great
circuit of the circulation, and thus exercising the
specific or peculiar action of its constituents in pro-
moting the various secretory and excretory processes,
and thereby restoring the diseased system to a physio-
logical condition. ''

Such effects and changes, wrought in the sick body,
are obviously an alteration, and the remedy that pro-
duces them is an alterative.

This is but a part of a medicinal alterative; but it
conveys a sufficient, idea of its nature.

The opinion is as common as it is erroneous, among
those who visit mineral waters, that they are to be
benefited in proportion to the quantity they drink.
Persons in health, or not debilitated by disease, do
sometimes indulge in enormously large and long-
continued potations of such waters, with apparent im-
punity; but it by no means follows that those whose
stomachs are enervated by disease, and whose general
health is much enfeebled, can indulge the habit with
equal safety. In such stomachs the effectsof inordi-
nate distention are always painful and injurious, while
the sudden diminution of the temperature, from large
quantities of cold fluid suddenly thrown into the sys-
tem, can scarcely fail to prove injurious.

84 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

I sometimes meet with another class of visitors, who
err just as much on the opposite extreme ; they arrive
at the springs, and place themselves under the govern-
ment of a recipe for the use of the water, drawn up,
most commonly, by some distant medical adviser, who
has never himself had an opportunity of observing its
effects ; and such not unfrequently take this aqua inedi-
cinalis in literally ho^nceopathic doses ; — in quantities
altogether insufficient to produce any sanative effect.

PREPARATION FOR THE USE OF THE WATER.

Some preparation of the system, preceding the use
of the water, is often, though not always, necessary for
its safe and advantageous administration. Most per-
sons, after the excitement usual to the travel in visiting
the springs, will be profited by taking some gentle
purgative, and by the use of a light and cooling diet
for a day or two before the water is freely used. Those
in feeble health should commence the water with
caution, and generally in its least stimu/atwg form, —
that is, after it has remained in an open vessel until its
gas has escaped. If, with these precautions, it fail to
exert its desired effects, or produce unpleasant symp-
toms, the medical adviser, to whom it would be neces-
sary to resort in such an emergency, would, of course,
prescribe according to circumstances; nor can any
general rule be given as respects the treatment that
would be necessary in such a case, — one patient often
requiring treatment essentially different from another.

Invalids, however, ought not to despair of the use of
the water, and of its adaptation to their cases, simply
because it may, at first, or even in the progress of its
use, display some vagrant and improper action upon
the system. Errors in its action, if they may so be
termed, gejierally arise from errors in its use, and may
generally be prevented by a change in the method of
administration, or by some medical assistants, so that
the water may be safely continued.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

85

SENSIBLE EFFECTS OF THE WATER ON THE SYSTEM.

The sensible medicinal effects of the water are promi-
nently displayed in its action upon the bowels, liver,
kidneys, and skin, and, when drunk fresh at the foun-
tain, by a lively stimulant effect upon the system in
general, and upon the brain in particular.

Proper quantities, taken in the morning before break-
fast, will often exert some cathartic effect in the course
of the day. The liver is, in most instances, brought
under its influence from a few days' perseverance in
the use of it, as will be manifest from the character of
the excretions. Its action upon the kidneys is readily
induced, and we occasionally see it exerting, at the
same time, both a diuretic and a cathartic operation.
Very commonly the exhalant vessels of the skin are
stimulated to increased perspiration ; but its full effects
upon the surface, manifested not only by increased, but
sulphurous perspiration, do not occur until it has been
freely used for several weeks, nor until the secretory
system generally has been brought under its influence.

In reference to its cathartic effects, I remark, that
while as a general rule it gently opens the bowels, and
in some cases purges freely, we meet with occasional
cases in which its effects are distinctly constipative
from the first. In other cases I have known it to purge
gently for the first few days and afterwards to produce
constipation.

As the system is brought under the influence of the
water, the appetite and the ability to digest food are
sensibly augmented. The spirits become buoyant and
cheerful, with increased desire for social company and
amusements.

Exercise, previously irksome, is now enjoyed without
fiitigue, and so great is the change in the whole man,
that the patient often expresses his appreciation of it by
declaring that he is "a new man," — and so he is, in
reference to his physical and social feelings.

86 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

EFFECTS ON THE PULSE.

The effect of the water upon the pulse ought to be
distinctly noted, inasmuch as its action upon the circu-
latory system affords one of the best indications of its
adaptation, or inadaptation, to the case.

As a general rule it will be found that, after the water
has been properly used for a sufficient time to affect the
circulation, by those to whose cases it is well adapted,
and the frequency of whose pulse is much above the
natural standard, \\\^ pulse will be reduced in freqiiency
a?id in force. This reduction of the pulse is not the
consequence of any direct sedative action of the water
on the heart and arteries, but is the sanative result of
its alterative and calming influences upon the general
economy ; and especially from its agency in stimu-
lating glandular secretions, emulging the emunctories,
removing offensive debris that oppress the circulatory
organs and functions, thus giving a clear and unem-
barrassed course to the great circuit of the fluids
through the system, as well the chyle and lymph as the
venous and arterial blood.

A common consequence from the proper adminis-
tration of the water, in cases to which it is well suited,
is an essential modification of the circulation both in
frequency and force ; so much so, indeed, that I am
never surprised to find the pulse, whose beat has been
from 90 to 120 in the minute, reduced to 75 or 80,
and, in many cases, quite down to the natural standard
of the individual, whatever that may have been ; while
the volume of blood in the artery is increased, as well
as the softness and mildness of its flow.

Experience has so clearly taught me to rely upon the
reduction of the frequency and force of the pulse, as
indicative of the value of the water to the patient, that
I habitually look to such effects as among the most dis-
tinct indications to persevere in its use.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

87

On the contrary, if the effects of the water be to in-
crease the number of pulsations, or in any considerable
degree to render the circulation more irritable, my in-
ferences are unfavorable to its use ; and if this state of
things cannot be readily changed by a different admin-
istration of the water, its discontinuance is advised, for
it never proves beneficial when it perseveringly excites the
frequency of the circulation. There may be a condition
of things in the case that would not justify a hasty dis-
continuance of the water, merely because of its prone-
ness to stimulate, in a slight degree, the heart and
arteries; but the propriety of continuing its use, in any
such case, can only be safely judged of by the well-
informed and discriminating medical mind.

SYNOPSIS OF FACTS ILLUSTRATING THE MEDICI-
NAL CHARACTER OF THE WATER, ETC.

The following facts, intended to illustrate the pecu-
liar medicinal character and influences of the White
Sulphur water, as well as the best manner of using it in
ordinary cases, have been alluded to in other parts of
this volume ; nevertheless (although it may involve a
repetition), it is thought best to group them under
one general head, for the greater convenience of the
reader.

Severally, and collectively, they are positions of great
importance to the invalid, and long experience enables
me to regard them in the light of aphorisms, or fixed
facts.

1. The water is always more stimulant, and generally
less purgative, when taken fresh at the spring and
abounding in its gas.

2. The alterative, or changing, effects of the water
are by far its most valuable effects, and are those which,
more than all others, give to it its distinctive and effect-
ive character.

3. If the water produces active purgative or diuretic
effects, its alterative action is correspondingly delayed.

88 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

4. In obstinate and important cases, the invalid
should never consider that he has given the water a fair
trial, or that he has obtained its full curative effects,
until he has experienced its general alterative mfluences,
and maintained them upon the system for some time,
and this entirely irrespective of the time he may have used
the water.

5. As it is uniformly true that the water is seldom
permanently serviceable, when it acts as an irritant
upon any portion of the body, it follows that its use
should not be persevered in when, for any considerable
time, it continues thus to act. It may, however, al-
most invariably be made to act kindly and soothingly,
by a modification of the manner of using it, or by such
gentle medicinal appliances as the peculiarity of the
case may demand.

6. From an improper use of the water, or from fail-
ure to use a timely dose of medicine, to bring the
system into a proper condition to receive it, it occa-
sionally disagrees with persons (to whose constitution
and case it is well adapted), until the errors, whatever
they may be, have been corrected.

7. An active and long-continued diuretic effect is
generally useless, and frequently hurtful, and hence,
when in much excess, should be arrested. This may
be effected with the utmost certainty by a modification
in the quantity, or periods of tising the water, a^id by
gentle medical means that divert from the kidneys and
determine to the liver and shift.

8. As to the amount of water to be used in the course
of the day, or as to the number of days it should be
used, it is impossible to lay down a definite rule to apply
in all cases. So much depends upon the nature of the
case, and the peculiarities of the constitution of the
patient, that no fixed rule in these particulars can be
laid down as applicable to all cases, and an attempt to
do so would be an act of empiricism more apt to mis-
lead than to edify.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

USE OF BATHS.

A most valuable aid in the use of this water is the
tepid, warm, or //<?/ sulphur bath. I cannot here enter
into particular directions for the use of such baths. I
just observe that they may be made an important aux-
iliary in a large circle of cases, if timely and otherwise
properly employed.

Hot sulphur baihhig, indeed hot bathing of any kind,
is a remedy potent and positive in its influences ; —
capable of effecting much good when judiciously em-
ployed, or corresponding evil when improperly used.
Like potent mineral waters, it is often used empirically
and improperly, and hence becomes a curse when it
should have been a blessing. It is a remedy essen-
tially revolutionary in its character, — never negative,
but always producing positive results upon the economy,
for good or for evil.

The condition of the system indicates with sufficient
clearness, to the experienced observer, the time for
commencing, and the temperature of the bath. In
most cases, the bathing-point is as clearly indicated
under a course of sulphur waters as the blistering- or
bleeding-point is in inflammations, and the value of
the bath is much dependent upon such timely employ-
ment. When the water has well opened the bowels, —
has found its way into the general circulation, soften-
ing the skin and calming the irritation of the arterial
system, — the baths may be looked to with confidence in
their efficacy.

Hot baths ought never to be taken during the exist-
ence of febrile excitement. They should be used on an
empty stomach, and, as a general rule, before the de-
cline of the day, and their temperature always carefully
regulated to suit the nature of the case and the state
of the system.

Persons intending to bathe in warm or hot sulphur

90

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

waters should, previously to doing so, be intelligently
instructed under a proper knowledge of their case,
as to the precise temperature of the bath, and the
length of time to remain in it. Neglect or disre-
gard of proper instructions, the relying upon chance,
or the mere dictum of ignorance upon this subject,
has often been the cause, within my knowledge,
of aggravation of symptoms, and, in many instances,
of serious consequences. I state, therefore, for the
benefit of bathers in sulphur waters, that such baths,
to be used safely and efficaciously, must be used with
careful reference to their temperature ; the state of the
system wheji employed; and the length of tifne the bather
remains in them.

DISEASES— DIRECTIONS. gj

CHAPTER VIIL

DISEASES IN WHICH THE WHITE SULPHUR MAY, OR
MAY NOT, BE USEFULLY PRESCRIBED.

Dyspepsia — Gastralgia — Water-Brash — Chronic Gastro-Enteritis —
Diseases of the Liver — Jaundice — Enlargement of the Spleen —
Chronic Irritation of the Bowels — Costiveness — Piles — Diseases of
the Urinary Organs — Chronic Inflammation of the Kidneys — Dia-
betes— Female Diseases : Amenorrhoea, Dysmenorrhoea, Chlorosis,
Leucorrhcea — Chronic Affections of the Brain — Nervous Diseases —
Paralysis — Some Forms of Chronic Diseases of the Chest, or Breast
Complaints (to be avoided in Pulmonary Consumption) — Bron-
chitis— Chronic Diseases of the Skin, Psoriasis, Lepra, Ill-condi-
tioned Ulcers — Rheumatism and Gout — Dropsies — Scrofula — Mer-
curial Diseases — Erysipelas — Not to be used in Diseases of the
Heart, or in Scirrhus and Cancer — Chalybeate Spring — Effects in
Inebriation — Effects upon the Opium-Eaters.

All mineral waters, as before remarked, are stimu-
lants to a greater or less degree, and consequently are
inapplicable to the treatment of acute or highly in-
flammatory diseases. This remark is especially true as
relates to the White Sulphur, particularly when drunk
fresh at the spring, and abounding in its stimulating
gas. It is true, as before shown, that when its exciting
gas has flown off, it becomes far less stimulating, and
may be used with safety and success in cases to which,
in its perfectly fresh state, it would be totally un-
adapted. But even in its least stimulating for7n, it is
inadmissible for excited or febrile conditions of the sys-
tem ; and especially to cases of inflammatory action, —
at least, until the violence of such action has been sub-
dued by other and appropriate agents.

If the individual, about to submit himself to the use
of this water, is suffering from fullness and tension
about the head, or pain with a sense of tightness in the

92

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

chest or side, he should obtain relief from these symp-
toms before entering upon its use. If his tongue be
white or heavily coated, or if he be continuously or
periodically feverish, or have that peculiar lassitude,
with gastric distress, manifesting recent or acute biliary
accumulations, he should avoid its use until, by proper
medical treatment, his biliary organs are emulged, and
his system prepared for its reception. Much suffering,
on the one hand, would be avoided, and a far larger
amount of good, on the other, would be achieved, ii
visitors were perfectly aware of, and carefully mindful
of, these facts.

It is an every-day occurrence during the watering
season at the "White," for persons to seek medical
advice, for the first time, after they have been using
the water for days, perhaps for weeks, and it is then
sought because of vagrant operations or injurious effects
of the water. In most such cases there will be found,
upon examination, either the existence of some of the
symptoms just mentioned, or evidences of localinfiam-
matio7i in some part of the body, sufficient to prevent
the constitutional efficacy of the remedy, I am often
struck with the control which an apparently inconsid-
erable local inflammation will exert, in preventing the
constitutional effects of mineral waters. To remove
such local determinations where they exist, or greatly
to lessen their activity, is all-important to secure the
constitutional effects of sulphur water.

It is necessary to reflect that mineral waters, like all
medicinal substances, are adapted only to certain dis-
eases, and that the more powerfully they act, the greater
mischief they are capable of doing if improperly ad-
ministered \for, if it be asserted that they are capable of
doing good only, without the power of doing harm, we
may be satisfied that their qualities are too insignificaftt to
merit notice.

This consideration indicates the necessity of some
caution in the use of waters which possess any sanative

DISEASES— REMEDIES. 93

powers, and suggests the propriety, in all doubtful cases,
of proceeding under the judgment of some professional
man who is familiar with the subject, whose judgment
may determine how far the water is applicable to each
individual case, and in what manner it should be em-
ployed to be most efficacious.

A long list of successful cases that have fallen under
my care during the third of a century that I have been
administering these waters, might perhaps without im-
propriety be inserted here ; but I am induced to omit
the insertion, because I am aware with what suspicion
medical cases, however well authenticated, are received
when they are given to favor any particular practice,
or to recommend any particular water. Besides, the
insertion of names is objectionable in all private prac-
tice, and I consider the reputation of this particular
water to be now too well established to require such
assistance.

The space I have allotted to this branch of my sub-
ject will allow little more than a simple enumeration
of the diseases^for which this water is beneficially em-
ployed. Those who desire more extended information
of its effects in the diseases enumerated are referred
to my volume upon the "Mineral Waters of the United
States and Canada."

DYSPEPSIA.

This common and annoying disease, the especial
scourge of the sedentary and the thoughtful, whether
existing under the form of irritation of the mucous
surface of the stomach — vitiation of the gastric juice —
or under the somewhat anomalous characteristic of
Gastralgia, is treated with much success by a proper
course of the White Sulphur water.

The apprehensive and dejected spirit that finds no
comfort in the present, and forebodes evil only in the
future; the hesitating will that matures no purpose,

9

94

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

and desponds even in success; the emaciation of frame
and haggardness of visage ; the ever-present indurance,
and all the imaginary and real ills that torture the hap-
less dyspeptic, are often made to yield to alterative
and invigorating influences that a few weeks' judicious
use of the waters has established.

Administered alone, in every form of this disease
(for under the name Dyspepsia we have several forms
of stomach disease essentially differing from each other,
and requiring different modes of treatment), its cura-
tive powers may not always be so marked; but in
several varieties of the disease, and those indeed which
we most often witness, it deserves the very highest
praise that can be conferred upon any remedy. In
cases of this disease in which the Liver is implicated,
occasioning slow or unhealthy biliary secretions, a
state of things that often exists, the water may be used
with especial advantage. To effect permanent or last-
ing cures in dyspepsia, the waters should always be
pressed to their complete alterative effects upon the
system.

CHRONIC IRRITATION OF THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE OF
THE STOMACH AND BOWELS.

The largest class of invalids that resort to our min-
eral fountains for relief are those afflicted with ab-
dominal irritations, and especially with irritations of the
mucous coat of the stomach and bowels.

These irritations are occasionally so masked by a
superadded nervous mobility as to conceal their true
character from the sufferer, and sometimes from his
medical adviser. The disease is far more common in
late than in former years. The number of cases at
the White Sulphur has been, I am sure, more than
triplicated within the last few years. It may be in-
duced by any of the numerous causes whose tendency
is to derange the digestive, assimilative, and nervous

DISEASES— REMEDIES. q^

functions ; and is often connected with some indiges-
tion, irregular or costive bowels, with restlessness and
unhappy forebodings of impending evils. I have much
confidence in the waters in such cases when prudently
and cautiously used, aided, if necessary, by proper
adjunctive means, and pressed to their full alterative
effects.

LIVER DISEASES,

Chronic disease of the liver, in some form or other,
is a very common disease of our country, especially
in the warm latitudes and miasmatic districts. Very
many affected with this complaint have annually visited
the White Sulphur for the last fifty or sixty years. In
no class of cases have the effects of the waters been
more fully and satisfactorily tested than in chronic
derangements of the liver.

The modus operandi of sulphur water upon the liver
is dissimilar to that of mercury, and yet the effects of
the two agents are strikingly analogous. The potent
and controlling influence of the water over the secre-
tory function of the liver must be regarded as a specific
quality of the agent, and as constituting an important
therapeutic feature in the value of the article for dis-
eases of this organ. Its influence upon the liver is
gradually but surely to unload it when engorged, and
to stimulate it to a healthy performance of its func-
tions when torpid.

The control which this water may be made to exer-
cise over the liver in correcting and restoring its
energies, is often as astonishing as it is gratifying, —
establishing a copious flow of healthy bile, and a con-
sequent activity of the bowels, imparting a vigor to
the whole digestive and assimilative functions, and,
consequently, energy and strength to the body, and
life and elasticity to the spirits.

For many years I have kept a "Case-book^^ at the
White Sulphur, and have carefully noted the influences

96 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

of the water upon such cases as have been submitted
to my management. Among the number are several
hundred cases of chronic affections of the liver, em-
bracing diseases oi simple excitement, chronic Inflamma-
tion, e7igorgement and obstructions of the biliary ducts,
etc. These cases were treated either with the White
Sulphur alone, or aided by some appropriate adjunctive
remedy; and, in looking at the results, I must be per-
mitted to express a doubt whether a larger relative
amount of amendments and cures has ever been ef-
fected by the usual remedies of the medical shop.
This I know is high eulogy of the water in such dis-
eases. It is considerately made, and is not higher
than its merits justify.

When Sclrrhoslty of the liver is suspected, the water,
if used at all, should be used under the guards of a
well-informed medical judgment ; for in actual Scir-
rhosity, if it be pressed beyond its primary effects upon
the stomach and bowels, it is very decidedly injurious.
I have known several cases in which death was hastened
by disregarding this caution.

For a more full account of the influences of the
water in Liver diseases, the reader is referred to the
author's work on the " Mineral Springs of the United
States and Canada."

JAUNDICE.

This is a form of liver disease in which obstructions
prevent the free egress of the bile from the gall-blad-
der along its natural channels, and hence occasion its
absorption into the general circulation.

In cases of jaundice, in which the obstructing cause
is inspissated bile, or very small calculi, or when oc-
casioned by inflammation or spasm of the gall-ducts
themselves, the White Sulphur water, as might be ex-
pected from its influence over the liver, is used with
the happiest results.

DISEA SES— REMEDIES.

97

Indeed, the individuals affected with incipient or
confirmed jaundice, and whose livers are free from
Scirrhus, cannot place too much confidence in the
use of the White Sulphur water and baths, with the
occasional use of mild adjunctive means to aid in its
speedy action upon the liver and skin. Thus judi-
ciously employed, and for a sufficient length of time,
it invariably proves successful, either in curing the
case, or in bringing the system into the condition
under which a cure speedily results.

CHRONIC DIARRHCEA.

In Chronic Diarrhoea, especially where the mucous
coat of the bowels is principally implicated, and still
more when the case is complicated with derangement
of the stomach and liver, the water is often employed
with very gratifying effects.

While the water, properly taken, is a most invalu-
able remedy in Chronic Mucous Diarrhcea, in no other
disease are prudence and caution more eminently de-
manded in its administration, and especially for the
few first days of using it. When prudently and cau-
tiously prescribed in such cases, it is not only a per-
fectly safe remedy, but also eminently curative in its
effects. Many of the most satisfactory results that I
have ever accomplished by the prescription of the
White Sulphur water, have been in cases of Chronic
Mucous Diarrhea.

Serous Diarrhcea of chronic character requires still
greater caution in the early use of the water than the
mucous form to which I have been referring j and
while the waters, when carefully introduced, constitute
a valuable remedy in such cases, they will, if too largely
taken, aggravate the worst symptoms of the disease.*

* See the details of several interesting cases in the " Mineral Waters
of the United States and Canada."

9*

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

COSTIVENESS.

Habitual costiveness is a state of the system in which
the water has been extensively employed j sometimes
successfully, sometimes not. When the case depends
upon depraved or deficient biliary secretions, much
reliance may be placed upon the efficiency of this
remedy if it be carried to the extent of fully alienating
the system.

PILES.

The use of mild laxatives in hemorrhoid^' has long
been a favorite practice for their relief. The beneficial
effect of the water in this disease is probably to some
extent due to its laxative power, but still more, I appre-
hend, to its alterative effect upon the liver, through
which the hemorrhoidal vessels are favorably im-
pressed.

DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS.

The White Sulphur waters are used with very good
effects in Gravel; indeed, they almost invariably pal-
liate such cases, and frequently, in their early stages,
entirely cure them.

Incipient calculous affections are relieved by the water
pretty much in proportion as it corrects the digestive
and assimilating functions, improves the blood, and
brings the general economy into a natural type, pre-
paring the kidneys to resist foreign encroachments
upon their functions^ and to elaborate from healthy
blood proper and healthy secretions. Where the affec-
tion depends upon acid predominance in the fluids,
the water never fails to palliate, and often cures the
case. Whether or not this water should be preferred
to other remedies in calculous affections, depends upon
the diathesis that prevails in the system ; and hence
the urine should always be carefully analyzed, that we
may not act in the dark in such cases.

DISEASES— REMEDIES. gg

Chronic i7iflammatioji of the kidneys, as well as simi-
lar affections of the bladder and urethra, are often
successfully treated by a judicious use of the waters. I
have treated numerous cases of Catarrh of the bladder
successfully by a proper use of the water, and other
appropriate remedies in connection with it, always
regarding the water, however, as the leading remedy
in tlj^e case.

Diabetes is a form of disease in which the waters
have occasionally been used with excellent effect.

Spermatorrhcea, often painfully implicating the nerv-
ous system, and producing extreme debility not only
of the sexual organs but also of the general system, is
often greatly benefited at these springs.

This disease is generally found complicated with a
condition of the skin and glandular of'gans, and not
unfrequently of the mucous surfaces, that eminently
requires the aid of alterative remedies. In all such com-
plications the waters are found very valuable as a
primary means, preceding and preparing the system
for the use of more decided tonic remedies.

FEMALE DISEASES.

In female diseases, in their various chronic forms of
amenorrhoea, or suppressed menstruation, dysmenor-
rhcea, or painful menstruation, chlorosis, and leucorrhoea,
the waters of the White Sulphur have been much em-
ployed. When the cases have been judiciously dis-
criminated and were free from the combinations and
states of the system that contra-indicate the use of the
waters, they have been employed with beneficial re-
sults.

CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE BRAIN.

It is only since the introduction of the custom of
using the water in its ungaseous form (thirty-five years
ago) that it has been taken successfully, or even toler-
ated by the system, in chronic inflammation of the

lOO WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

brain. I need, therefore, scarcely apprise my readers
that it is only in its strictly ungaseous form that it
should be used in such cases, and then in a careful and
guarded manner. Thus prescribed, I have, in several
instances, found it beneficial.

NERVOUS DISEASES.

•Neuralgia, in some form or other, has become a very
common disease in every part of our country ; and the
number that visit the White Sulphur suffering with this
protean and painful malady is very considerable.

Sometimes this disease exists as a primary or inde-
pendent affection, but far more frequently as a conse-
quence of visceral or organic derangements. Where
such is found to be the case, the White Sulphur waters
are used with the very best results. As an alterative,
to prepare the neuralgic for receiving the more tonic
waters to advantage, it deserves the largest confidence
by those afflicted with this annoying malady.

PARALYSIS.

The number oi paralytics that resort to the White
Sulphur is large, and their success in the use of the
waters various. Cases resulting from dyspeptic de-
pravities are oftener benefited than those that have
resulted from other causes. In almost every case,
however, some benefit to the general health takes place,
and sometimes an abatement of the paralysis itself.

BREAST COMPLAINTS.

In tubercular consumption, whether the tiibercles be
incipient or fully developed, the White Sulphur water
should not be used. Its effects in such cases would be
prejudicial.

But there are other forms of breast complaints in
which the waters have been found valuable, particu-
larly in that form described as

DISEASES— REMEDIES. iqi

SYMPATHETIC CONSUMPTION.*

This form of breast complaint is the result of morbid
sympathies extended from some other parts of the body,
and more commonly from a diseased stomach or liver.
The great/rt'r vagtitn nerve, common to both the stomach
and lungs, affords a ready medium of sympathy between
these two organs. In protracted cases of dyspepsia,
the stomach often throws out morbid influences to the
windpipe and surfaces of the lungs, occasioning cough,
expectoration, pain i?i the breast, and many other usual
symptoms of genuine consumption. So completely,
indeed, does this translated affection wear the livery of
the genuine disease, that it is often mistaken for it.

This form of disease comes often under my notice at
the Springs, and I frequently witness the happiest re-
sults from the employment of the water in such cases ;
and the more so, because its beneficial effects resolve a
painful doubt that often exists in the mind of the
patient as to the true character of the disease.

BRONCHITIS.

This affection is often met with at the Springs, some-
times as a primary affection of the bronchi, and often
as a. result of other affections, and especially of de-
rangements of the digestive and assimilative organs.
In such translated cases, we frequently find the bron-
chitis relieved in the same degree that the originally
diseased organs are benefited.

CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE SKIN.

The various chronic diseases of the skin are treated
with nmch success by a full course of the White Sulphur
waters in connection with a liberal course of warm or
hot sulphur baths.

* For fuller information on this subject, see " Mineral Waters of
the United States and Canada," by the author.

I02 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

There is a chronic form of erysipelas, occurring at
irregular intervals, and most commonly attacking the
face or the extremities, that I have treated with very
good success by the White Sulphur water.

RHEUMATISM AND GOUT.

The rheumatic and \)cv^ gouty are habitues of the White
Sulphur. The well-established reputation of the waters
in such cases attracts no small number of persons
laboring under one or the other of these affections.

The primitive reputation of the water, and that
which at an early day directed public attention to its
potency, was derived from its successful employment
in rheumatism. The reputation thus early acquired
has not been lost, but, on the contrary, established and
confirmed by its successful use for three-quarters of
a century.

In most rheumatic cases, the employment of warm
or hot sulphur baths constitutes a very valuable adjunct
in their treatment.

With the sulphur water as a drink, and the use of the
hot tub douche and sweating baths of the same water,
this place offers the strongest inducements for the resort
of persons afflicted with chronic rheumatism that can
anywhere be found.

In proportion as the waters impress the digestive
and assimilative organs, they benefit ^i??//. hs> palliative
in this disease, they are always employed with benefit.

CHRONIC POISONING FROM LEAD

Is very advantageously treated by a full course of the
water and baths. Used with sufficient persistency, they
may well be regarded as the most reliable remedy to
which persons thus afflicted can have recourse, and to
such I earnestly recommend a trial of them, the more
especially, because the ordinary remedies in such cases
are admittedly very unreliable.

DISEASES— REMEDIES. 103

SCROFULA.

Sulphur waters have long been held in reputation in
the treatment of scrofula. Some of the English phy-
sicians have thought such waters superior to any other
remedy in scrofula. Dr. Salisbury, of Avon, New
York, speaks favorably of his experience of their use
in such diseases. In the early stages of scrofula the
White Sulphur has often been used with decided ad-
vantages, but in the confirmed stages of this disease I
do not consider them at all equal in curative powers to
some other mineral waters in this region.

MERCURIAL DISEASE AND SECONDARY SYMPTOMS OF
LUES.

In that enfeebled, susceptible, and very peculiar con-
dition of the system, often found to exist as the result
of a long-continued or injudicious use of mercury, and
in what is commonly known as the secondary form of
Lues, the White Sulphur water, when carried to its full
alterative effects, displays its highest curative powers.
After long experience of the use of the waters in the
peculiar forms of disease under consideration, I have
no hesitation in saying, that if called upon to designate
the particular affection or state of the system in which
the White Sulphur water is most certainly efficacious,
I would not hesitate to name mercurial diseases and
Secondary Syphilis ; because the water in such cases
exerts a specific agency, and more certainly brings
relief to the sufferer than any other known remedy.
This is strong praise of the remedy in these diseases,
and nothing but long and successful experience of its
value in such cases could induce me to award it.

I have no hesitation in saying to those who are so
unfortunate as to be subjects of the diseases embraced
under this head, that they have in these waters, when
properly and fully used, in connection with warm and
hot sulphur bathing, a reasonable hope of a permanent

I04

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

cure that they cannot have from the use of any other
remedy known to the profession. Such cases require
a full use of the waters, and in every case the cure is
obviously hastened by the use of other appropriate
means while the water is being taken.

EFFECTS OF THE WATER IN INEBRIATION.

During the whole period of my residence at the
Springs, I have been interested with the marked power
I have seen manifested by the waters in overcoming the
desire for the use of ardent spirits in those who had
been addicted to their imprudent use. I by no means
claim that the waters should be regarded as a specific
against either the love or the intemperate use of alco-
holic drinks, but simply that a proper use of them is a
decided preventive of that feeling of necessity or desire
for the use of strong drinks which drives the inebriate
to use them, in despite of his own judgment to the
contrary. Or, in other words, that their proper use
allays or destroys the aptitude or nervous craving for
ardent spirits, and to such an extent, that even the
habitual drinker and confirmed inebriate feels little or
no desire for them while he is properly using the waters.

During my long residence, here, I have witnessed
hundreds of cases fully justifying the above statement.
This peculiar influence of the White Sulphur water
depends, first, upon the action of the siilphtiretted
hydrogen gas that abounds in it,, and which is an active
nervine stimulant, and as such supplies the want the
inebriate feels for his accustomed alcoholic stimulant ;
and secojidly, it depends upon the alterative influences
exerted by the waters upon the entire organism. While
by its alterative power the entire animal structure is
brought into natural and harmonious action, there is
a consequent subsidence of the cerebral and nervous
irritation which always prevails in the habitual drunk-
ard, the abatement of which enables him to exert a
moral power greater than he could before, and sufficient

DISEASES— REMEDIES. 105

to overcome the lessened demand which his old habit,
if he retains it in any degree, now makes upon him.

In the initiatory or forming stage of intemperance,
the free use of this water may be much relied upon to
modify, or entirely prevent, the te7nptation for strong
drink ; and even in the confirmed stage, its persevering
use may inaugurate a state of the system that will essen-
tially aid the sufferer in overcoming the hurtful habit
of intemperance. Indeed, if the habitual drinker can
be prevailed upon to use the water properly for some
ten days, to the entire exclusion of alcoholic stimulants ,
he will have, for the time at least, but little alcoholic
temptation to resist.

Of course, I will not be so misunderstood by any as
to suppose that I design even to intimate an opinion
that this water is a sure and permanent cure for either
absolute or threatened inebriation. All that I intend to
assert in this connection is, that a proper and continuous
use of the water will very essentially aid the inte7nperate
drinker to lay aside the inebriating cup and return to
soberness.

The will of the excessive drinker must necessarily
concur, to some extent, with any effort successfully
made for his relief. But while this is so, an auxiliary
agent, as innocent in its effects as sulphur water, that
can so far satisfy the nervoics cravings of the votary of
strong drink as to give him increased power to resist
his morbid habit, while at the same time his general
health is improved, well deserves, I conceive, the atten-
tion of all who need assistance in this direction.

It would be irrational for the inebriate to expect to
be cured of his morbid habit by simply visiting the
Springs and drinking its water, however freely, and at
the same time (which has been the habit of some) to
drink freely also of alcoholic liquors. Such a course
could be of no service whatever. Stimulants of what-
ever kind, in such a case, must be abstained from while
the water is establishing its peculiar action upon the

lo6 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

system. This effected, which can ordinarily be accom-
plished in ten or twelve days, the success of further
persistence in the use of the water is hopeful, and easily
thereafter under the control of the individual who is
seeking relief.

USE OF THE WATER BY OPIUM-EATERS.

I am occasionally consulted by distant parties who
are api)rised of the effects of the water in allaying the
desire for ardent spirits, whether or not it has the same
effects in reference to the desire for opiates.

Upon this subject I remark, that my observations of
the influence's of the water in assisting the inebriate to
discontinue the use of alcoholic drinks, when his will
assents to such discontinuance, very naturally led me
to hope that it might afford similar assistance, under a
like consent of the will, to the opium-eater. But a good
deal of difficulty lies in the way of making reliable
observations upon this subject. Opium-eaters, even
more than excessive drinkers, are indisposed to divulge
their morbid propensity to their friends or physician,
or to seek through the aid of either to be relieved of
their hurtful habit; consequently, while personally I
have known hundreds of visitants to the Springs who I
was satisfied ate opium to excess, and some to very
great excess, nevertheless, I have had but few cases of
inveterate opium-eating placed fully under my profes-
sional government, with the single view of being cured
of the habit. Some such cases, however, I have had,
in which the sufferers freely and fully communicated
to me the fact of their injurious habit, expressed
earnest desire to be relieved, and continued during the
treatment to exercise all the force of will of which they
were capable, to render my advice and prescriptions
successful. In one of these cases, entirely successful
in its treatment, the person had been in the habit for
a long time of using not less than six grains of mor-
phia daily.

DISEASES— REMEDIES.

107

The space allotted to this notice will allow me only
now to say, that in the few cases alluded to, I used the
waters very fully, but always in connection with other
means that I deemed essential, — that the success of the
combined treatment was very satisfactory, — that, in my
opinion, the influences of the water, by lessejiing the
nervous craving for opiates, materially aided in the re-
sults, and that such results would not have taken place
if the waters had not been used. In the cases alluded
to, a generous confidence on the part of the sufferer,
which led to prompt observance of professional advice,
contributed much, I conceive, especially in the com-
mencement of the treatment, to favorable results.

The most that can confidently be said in favor of the
use of the waters in such cases — and all that ought to
be said — is, that when they are judiciously used, and
in connection with proper adjunctive management and
appliances, they essentially aid the opium-eater in dis-
pensing entirely with the use of that drug. I will only
add that, in my management of such cases, I have not
found it best to exclude the entire use of the drug when
the patient first commences the use of the water, as I
advise shall be done in the case of the inebriate.

I have not hitherto published anything upon this
subject, and simply from the fact that I am satisfied
that the treatment of such cases by the waters, to be
successful, requires careful professional management,
with appropriate adjunctive means, — that the water is
only an efficient aid, and not a specific, — and that the
management necessary in connection with it, to give
success, depends too much upon the precise circum-
stances of each case to justify a broad recommenda-
tion, without numerous and essential qualifications.

I have heretofore alluded to some diseases and states
of the system in which these waters should not be used.
In addition to what I have already said upon that sub-
ject, I now remark that they should not be used in

io8 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

scirrhous or cancerotis affections, whether internal or ex-
ternal, nor in hypertrophy or moi-hid enlargefuents of the
heart. In either of the cases supposed, their effects,
especially their full effects, would be prejudicial.

CHALYBEATE SPRING.

About forty rods from the White Sulphur is a cha-
lybeate spring, in which the iron exists in the form of a
carbonate of iron, the mildest, least offensive, and ordi-
narily the most valuable form in which ferruginous
waters are found.

For the last fifteen years this water has been consid-
erably used by the class of visitors whose diseases re-
quired an iron tonic, and its effects have realized the
rational hopes that were indulged in it.

SALT SULPHUR SPRINGS.

109

CHAPTER IX.

SALT SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Situation and Early History — Analysis by Professor Rogers — Appli-
cability of the Waters.

These springs, three in number, are about twenty-
four miles south from the White Sulphur, in the county
of Monroe, and near Union, the seat of justice for that
county.

The following is the analysis of Professor Rogers
of the principal spring : —

Temperature variable from 49° to 56°.

Solid matter procured, by evaporation, from 100
cubic inches, weighed, after being dried at 212°, 81.41
grains.

Quantity of each solid ingredient in 100 cubic
inches, estimated as perfectly free from water: —

1. Sulphate of lime 36-755 grains.

2. Sulphate of magnesia 7-883

3. Sulphate of soda 9.682

4. Carbonate of lime 4-445

5. Carbonate of magnesia 1-434

6. Chloride of magnesium 0.116

7. Chloride of sodium 0.683

8. Chloride of calcium 0.025

9. Peroxide of iron, from proto-sulphate 0.042

10. An azotized organic matter, blended with sul-

phur, about 4

11. Earthy phosphates a trace.

12. Iodine

Volume of each of the gases contained in a free state
in 100 cubic inches : —

10*

no MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

Sulphuretted hydrogen i.io to 1.50 cubic inches.

Nitrogen 2.05 "

Oxygen 0.27 "

Carbonic acid 5.75 "

The above analysis applies to the Iodine, or New
Spring, as well as to the Upper, or Old Spring, as the
following extract from a letter from Professor Rogers
to the proprietors will show : —

"I inclose you a list of the ingredients in the Salt
Sulphur water, which applies to the New as well as to
the Old Spring, the former having rather a smaller
amount of saline matter in general, though in some
ingredients surpassing the other. It has been very
minutely analyzed, and is the first of all the waters in
which I was enabled to detect traces of iodine, which
it contains in larger amount than the Old Spring, and,
indeed, than most of the other waters in which I have
been so fortunate as to discover this material."

The Salt Sulphur water is remedial in cases for which
strong sulphur waters are successfully used ; and espe-
cially in cases that require active cathartic operation.
While its cathartic effects are more active than those of
any other water in the geological region in which it
exists, it is neither harsh nor violent ; gently clearing
the alimentary canal without debilitating the patient,
while its activity promotes the general secretions, in-
vigorates the appetite, and promotes digestion. The
cathartic effects of the water are so mild and certain
that the stomach is not oppressed by it, nor the bowels
irritated ; but while the alimentary canal is being re-
lieved, the functions of the system assume their physio-
logical type, and the suspended causes of disease are
gradually removed.

In the extensive range of diseases dependent upon
visceral obstructions, the Salt Sulphur is eminently
useful ; and in that particular form of simple dyspepsia
in which constipation is a leading and troublesome
symptom, I have found it to be signally efficacious.

RED SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Ill

CHAPTER X.

RED SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Situation and Improvements — Analysis — Adaptation to Diseases, etc,
— New River White Sulphur Springs.

The Red Sulphur Springs are in the southern portion
of the county of Monroe, forty-two miles south from
the White Sulphur.

The following is the result, given in one view, from
the analysis of this water by Mr. Augustus A. Hayes, of
Massachusetts.

50,000 grains (nearly seven pints) of the water con-
tain, dissolved as gases (grain measure), —

Carbonic acid 1245 grains.

Nitrogen I497 "

Oxygen 260 "

Hydro-sulphuric acid 86 "

3088 "

And afford of —

Siliceous and earthy matter 0.70

Sulphate of soda 3.55

Sulphate of lime 47

Carbonate of lime ." 4.50

Carbonate of magnesia 4.13

Sulphur compound 7.20

Carbonic acid 2.71

23.26

Mr. Hayes remarks, that the peculiar sulphur com-
pound which forms a part of the saline contents of this
water has never been described, if it has ever before
been met with. While in the natural state, and out of

112 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

contact with atmospheric air, it is dissolved in the
water, and forms a permanent solution. Air, acids,
and other agents separate it from the water, in the
form of a jelly, and alkaline carbonates, alkalies,
water, and other agents re-dissolve it. It has no acid
action on test fluids, but bears that character with
bases, and forms compounds analogous to salts.

Mixed with a small quantity of water, and exposed to
the temperature of 80° Fahr., it decomposes, and emits
a most offensive odor of putrefying animal matter,
with hydro-sulphuric acid gas. It is to this property
that the hydro-sulphuric acid in the water is due, and
to the oxidation of a part of this compound most of
the sulphuric acid found in the water may be referred.

Mr. Hayes remarks, that "chemical experiments do
not show the medicinal properties of the substances
operated on. But when a substance, the result of deli-
cately-balanced affinities, gives in its decomposition an
agent of powerful action on the animal system, we may
conclude that it is an active ingredient, if found in a
water possessed of high curative powers. I am dis-
posed, therefore," he says, " to consider the sulphur
compound in this water as the principal medicinal
agent contained in it ; although its action in combina-
tion with the other constituents may be necessary to
produce the effects for which this water is so justly
celebrated."

Mr. Hayes, from his chemical examinations, comes
to the conclusion that the red color of the matter which
is deposited on the slabs, etc., is that of moss or lichen,
which finds its habitat in the viscid covering produced
by the deposition of the sulphur compound.

The peculiar and distinguishing reputation of this
water, as a medicinal agent, is for diseases of the
thoracic viscera, and, by some, it has been considered
remedial in confirmed tubercular consumption. Dis-
senting entirely from this high claim for the water as a

RED SULPHUR SPRINGS. 113

remedy in confirmed consiiinptlon, my observations for
many years enable me to award to it decided efficacy
in many cases of irritation of the puhiionary organs.
In sympathetic or translated affections of the lungs,
whether that state be occasioned from disease of the
digestive or chylopoietic viscera, or be dependent upon
the retrocession of some habitual discharge, the water
deserves to be regarded as a valuable remedy.

While the Red Sulphur has been considered pecu-
liarly adapted to the cure of pulmonary diseases, — and it
is true that it has a beneficial influence in many cases
of this kind, — its good effects equally extend to all
cases of subacute inflammation, whether seated in the
stomach, liver, spleen, intestines, kidneys, bladder, and
most particularly in the mucous membrane.

It is also used with good effects in chronic bowel
complaints, leucorrhoea, gleet, catarrh of the bladder,
and in some forms of uterine derangement.

With this as with other sulphur waters, if the system
should be too plethoric, or too much excited, the use
of the water should be postponed until the excitement
shall be reduced to a proper state. Commence by
taking one glass of water at bedtime, and one before
breakfast ; after a few days, take two glasses at bed-
time, and two before, breakfast, one at eleven o'clock
A.M., and one at five p.m. ; this quantity will generally
operate freely on the bowels ; if it should fail to pro-
duce this effect, a little common salt, magnesia, or
cream of tartar may be added. If it is desired to act
on the kidneys, increase the quantity of water to three
or four glasses between a light supper and bedtime,
and the same quantity between daylight in the morning
and breakfast-time, two glasses at noon, and one or two
glasses about five o'clock p.m., taking care to exercise
freely after drinking. The most proper periods for
using the water are, at night before bedtime, and in
the morning before breakfast-time.

114

MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

NEW RIVER WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

This name is given to a recently improved sulphur
spring on New River, in the county of Giles, a few
miles southwest from the Red Sulphur. 'This property
has been improved within the last twenty years, for the
entertainment of visitors.

The waters of this fountain have not been analyzed,
but they belong to the great Sulphur class, so abun-
dantly found in that geological region, and are valuable
in such cases as are usually successfully treated by mild
Sulphur waters.

These Springs may be reached by stage or private
conveyance from the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad,
at Newbern or Christiansburg, or from the Red, Salt,
or Montgomery White Sulphur Springs.

SWEET SPRINGS.

115

CHAPTER XI.

SWEET SPRINGS.

Situation and Early History — Improvements — Analysis — Effects of the
Waters — Adaptation of the Waters as a Beverage, and as a Bath, etc.

The Sweet Springs are situated in a pleasant valley
in the eastern extremity of Monroe County. They are
seventeen miles southeast from the White Sulphur, and
twenty-two east from the Salt Sulphur.

These springs were discovered in 1764, before any of
the other mineral waters in this section of the State
were known. In 1774, they had attracted so much
attention as to be analyzed by Bishop Madison, then
President of William and Mary College.

The valley, in which the spring is situated, is about
five miles in length, and from one-half to three-fourths
of a mile in width, and is bounded on the south by
the lofty Sweet Spring Mountain, and on the north by
the Alleghany. The spring and bath are situated in
the lower end of a small hollow or valley, that makes
out from the base of the Sweet Spring Mountain, from
which the ground gradually swells on either side. Con-
tiguous to the spring is a grove of a few old natives of
the forest that have fortunately escaped the axe of the
spoiler, which, together with a sodding of grass, give
the means of a pleasant promenade in good weather.

The earlier improvements of the place were of a
rude but comfortable character ; they have now, for the
most part, given way to buildings of a high order of
architectural merit, and attractive in every respect.

Il6 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

The bathing-house is a tasteful and elegant struc-
ture 3 and the separate reservoirs, for the use of ladies
and gentlemen, are of ample size, and arranged to
give every comfort to the bathers.

The temperature (Bell) of the Sweet Spring is 73°
Fahr., the same as that which, in England, by a strange
blunder, is called Bristol Hot Well. There is con-
siderable resemblance between the two in other respects,
as well in the evolution of carbonic acid as in the
earthy and saline matters held in solution. In the
Virginia spring, however, iron has been detected ;
whereas the Bristol Hot Well has none in its composi-
tion.

By the analysis of Rowelle, one quart of the Sweet
Spring water contains : —

Saline substances in general 12 to 15 grains.

Earthy substances 18 to 24 "

Iron i to I grain.

The saline substances are sulphate of magnesia,
muriate of soda, and muriate of lime, with a little
sulphate of lime. The earthy matter consists of sul-
phate of lime, a small portion of carbonate of magnesia
and lime, with a small portion of siliceous earth.

Professor Rogers, in the course of his geological
survey of the State, analyzed the waters of the Sweet
Spring, with the following results : —

I St. Solid matter procured by evaporation from one
hundred cubic inches, 32.67.

A portion of this is combined with water.

2d. Quantity of each solid ingredient, estimated as
perfectly free from water, in one hundred cubic
inches: —

Sulphate of lime 5-703

Sulphate of magnesia 4.067

Sulphate of soda 2.746

Carbonate of lime 13.013

Chloride of sodium 0.060

Chloride of magnesium 0.136

SWEET SPRINGS. uy

Chloride of calcium 0.065

Peroxide of iron (sesquioxide) 0.061

Silica , 0.075

Earthy phosphate a trace.

3d. Volume of each of the gases contained in a free
state in one hundred cubic inches of the water : —

Carbonic acid 37- 17

Nitrogen 1.86

Oxygen a trace.

Sulphuretted hydrogen, a trace, too small to be measured.

4th. Composition of one hundred cubic inches of
the mixed gases rising in bubbles in the spring : —

Nitrogen 71.7

Carbonic acid 28.3

The chief distinguishing feature of this water is the
predominance of the carbonic acid (fixed air) which it
contains, and it is properly regarded as the best exam-
ple of the acidulous waters that is found in our country.

The name of these waters is calculated to convey
erroneous impressions of their taste, which is like a
solution of a small quantity of a calcareous or magne-
sian carbonate. The excess of carbonic acid gives,
however, the water a briskness, productive of a very
different effect on the palate from what an imperfect
mixture of the earths would produce.

The first effects of the water (due to its temperature
and gaseous contents), Avhen drunk, are a feeling of
warmth at the stoinach, with a sensation of fullness of
the head, and some giddiness. Taken at stated inter-
vals in moderate quantity, it will produce a moisture
on the skin, and increase the flow of urine. If the
stomach be in a good state, it gives additional appetite,
and imparts fresh vigor to the system. Its operations
on the bowels vary at first ; but, after a more protracted
use, it will generally be found to increase a costive
habit.

II

Ii8 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

The Sweet Spring water is serviceable in the varieties
of dyspepsia accompanied by gastrodynia or spasm,
with pains occurring at irregular intervals, and heart-
burn, where the extremities are cold and the skin
torpid. In secondary debility of the digestive canal,
from the exhausting heats of summer, or in chronic
diarrhoea and dysentery, without fever, or not sustained
by hepatic inflammation, advantage will be derived by
the internal use of these waters.

If much gastric irritation, or evident phlogosis of
the liver, be present, with a parched skin and other
phenomena of fever, it will be better to premise one or
two small bleedings, followed by the use of a blue pill
at night, and a tumblerful or two of the water, to which
Has been added a teaspoonful of Epsom salts, or twice
the quantity of calcined magnesia, early in the morning.

The harassing cough to which young persons are
occasionally subject, and which often has its origin in
an enfeebled state of the stomach, or in scrofulous
habits from the enlargement of the bronchial glands,
as also the tussis hmnoralis of old people, will all be
materially benefited by the use of these waters. The
relief afforded in such cases as these has usually given
Bristol Hot Well its reputation in the cure of pulmonary
consumption.

Females who have become enervated by long con-
finement, or from nursing their children, and whose
constitutions have suffered for want of exercise and fresh
air, will be benefited by the use of these waters, inter-
nally and as a bath.

In subacute rheumatism, and in neuralgic attacks,
the Sweet Spring bath is often useful. In the closing
stages of acute rheumatism, the patient is sometimes
harassed with a lingering irritability of his system, with
tenderness, pain, and inability in the diseased joints,
attended with slight feverishness, especially toward the
close of the day.

In such cases, while hot or warm bathing would be

SWEET SPRINGS.

119

injurious, the baths of the Sweet or Red Sweet Springs
may be resorted to with the best effects. The use of
the spout in such cases is vahiable, by placing the dis-
eased part under the falling water and allowing it to
receive the dash for a short time.

A very efficacious way of applying this water to the
surface is by douche, — the stream being directed to the
part in which the disease is situated, — wherever there is
" augmented heat and fixed pain, as over the stomach,
or liver, or abdomen generally, above the pubes, or on
the loins and sacrum; also to the joints, when the
violence of inflammation has not yet subsided, nor
passed entirely into the chronic state. If the irritation
of the stomach forbids the drinking of the water,
douching the epigastrium would form a good preparative
for its use in this way. Lumbago, with some evening
fever, chlorosis ox fluor albus, with heat and pain at the
loins, would be benefited by douching this part.

"The excess of carbonic acid, and the presence of
earthy carbonates in the water, make it useful in cal-
culous and nephritic complaints."

As a tonic, in cases of pure debility, they may be
used with advantage, always, however, regarding this as
an aphorism, that they are contra-i?idicated, and should
be withheld, in all cases in which there is positive conges-
tion in any of the vital organs.

The first sensation on immersion in the Sweet Spring
bath is a slight shock, which speedily passes off, leaving
the bather with the most agreeable sensations while he
disports himself in the sparkling pool.

The bath is unsuited to the paralytic , and should be
avoided by those in whom apoplectic tendencies are
threatening.

In using the bath, " the chief points to be attended
to are, that the skin should not be moist or cold with
])erspiration, nor that there shall be general chill, nor
the languor that follows excessive muscular action. The
stomach also should be nearly empty, or, at least, not

I20 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

actively engaged in its work of digestion." Many
persons are injudicious in remaining too long in the
bath. From two to eight minutes will embrace periods
adapted to every condition, and only the most robust
should remain in the last-mentioned time. In a large
majority of cases, indeed, in all cases in which there is
much general debility, from two to five minutes, ac-
cording to circumstances, will embrace the proper
periods for remaining in the bath.

CHAPTER XII.

SWEET CHALYBEATE, OR RED SWEET SPRINGS.

Their Analysis — Nature and Medicinal Adaptations of the Waters as
a Beverage and a Bath — Artificial Warm Baths, etc.

One mile north of the Sweet Springs, on the road
leading to the White Sulphur, and just within the
southern border of Alleghany County, are the Red
Sweet Springs.

This property, embracing about 1700 acres of land,
affords one of the most productive farms in the State,
— a very great convenience to a spring establishment
in reference to its supplies.

The improvements subservient to the springs are
spacious, well designed, and comfortable, and are suffi-
cient for the accommodation of from three'^to four hun-
dred persons. Among them are well-designed and
spacious bathing-pools for gentlemen and ladies, each
affording a douche, from the use of which the bather
may often derive most essential benefit.

There are also here ladies' and gentlemen's bathing-
rooms fitted up for receiving hot or warm baths of any
desired temperature.

There are two medicinal springs at this establishment,
the one a few paces below the hotel, essentially the
same, both in quality and temperature, with the old
Sweet Springs; indeed, it may be regarded as identi-
cally the same water. The other, some forty rods, per-
haps, above the hotel, is in many respects like it, but
containing a much larger quantity of ii'on, which,being
abundantly deposited in the form of a red precipitate,
has given it the name of Red Spring.

II* (J2l)

122 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

The water of the Red Sp7'wg, which is the charac-
teristic water of the place, and most relied upon both
for drinking and bathing, issues from beneath heavy
and irregular stone arches, just at the head of a narrow
cove formed by a projecting hill on one side, and on
the other by large masses of porous stone, probably
deposited there from the Sweet Spring water, which
once flowed in this direction.

There are here three fountains, separated by narrow
stone partitions, but all running into one common
sluice. The upper and boldest of these fountains is
about two degrees colder than the two lower ones, and
evidently contains less of ferruginous matter. The
water issuing from all of them is probably two hundred
and fifty gallons in a minute.

The water of the Red Spring has been twice ana-
lyzed, first by Rowelle, and then by Professor Rogers.
According to Rowelle, o?ie quart of this water con-
tains—

Carbonate of lime 4 grains.

Carbonate of magnesia 3 "

Carbonate of iron 2 "

Silex I grain.

Sulphateof magnesia I "

Muriate of soda i "

Iron combined i "

Carbonic acid.

The following is the result of an anal3^sis by Pro-
fessor Rogers : —

ist. Solid matter, procured by evaporation from one
hundred cubic inches, weighed, after being dried at
112°, 40.76.

A portion of this is combined water.

2d. Quantity of each solid ingredient estimated as per-
fectly free from water. In one hundred cubic inches : —

Sulphate of lime 14-233

Sulphate of magnesia S-io/

Sulphate of soda 1.400

SWEET CHALYBEATE SPRINGS.

123

Carbonate of lime 1.166

Chloride of sodium 0.037

Chloride of magnesium 0.680

Chloride of calcium o.oio

Sesquioxide of iron 0.320

Organic matter in small quantities.
Iodine, a mere trace.

The iron is no doubt dissolved in the water as a
carbonate.

3d. Volume of each of the gases contained in a free
state, in one hundred cubic inches of the water : —

Carbonicacid 46.10 cubic inches.

Nitrogen 2.57 "

Oxygen 20 "

Sulphuretted hydrogen, a trace, too small to be measured.

4th. Composition of one hundred cubic inches of
the mixed gases rising in bubbles in the spring : —

Nitrogen 62.5

Carbonicacid 37-5

The temperature of the Red Spring water, as it
issues from three different heads, is from 75° to 79°.
Frequent examinations of this spring with a thermom-
eter induce me to believe that its temperature is slightly
variable, never exceeding, however, one or two degrees
of variation.

The analyses of the Red Sweet and Sweet Spring
waters, by the same chemist, show that they contain
essentially the same ingredients, but in different pro-
portions, both the salts and the gasesh^mg more abun-
dant in the former. The chief difference in the medicinal
effect of the two waters is probably owing to the larger
quantity of iron held in solution by the Red Sweet.
While thei Sweet Spring contains of iron 0.061 grains
in one hundred cubic inches of its water, the Red
Sweet in the same amount of water contains 0.320, or
about four-fifths in excess. This goes, so far as analysis
can be satisfactory, to prove its higher tonic power.

124

MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

The iron in this water exists in the form of a carbo-
nate, held in solution by carbonic acid gas, constituting
the mildest, and, at the same time, the most efficient
preparation of ferruginous waters.

While the carbonic acid gas in the Red Sweet is
41.10 grains against 37.17 in the Sweet, the carbonates
as a whole largely prevail in the latter. Again, while
the sulphate of lime is much the largest in the Red
Sweet, the sulphates of magnesia and soda, both aperi-
ent in their character, decidedly predominate in the
Sweet Spring waters. It may be noted that iodine, in
small quantity, is found in the Red Sweet, and not in
the Sweet ; but its quantity is doubtless very small, and
I am not aware of any peculiar effects of the water that
can, with certainty, be attributed to this agent. It
may, possibly, exert some beneficial influence as atonic
in combination with the other ingredients. From a
review of the analyses of these two interesting waters,
as well as from observation of their effects on disease,
it would not be very inaccurate to say that the Red is
the Sweet Spring water with a strong iron base. But
medical men, who should look closely into the peculi-
arities of remedial agents, will find upon careful scrutiny
of these, that the difference in the amount and combi-
nation of their materials must modify, to some extent,
their therapeutical agency upon the human system, and
that, according to the practical object they wish to
effect, they should select one or the other of them.

As a general rule, it is fallacious to adopt the analy-
sis of a mineral water as a guide in its administration.
Although an analysis, as correct as can be obtained
in the present state of chemical science, is an impor-
tant assistant in understanding the general nature of re-
medial waters, and aiding in the formation of general
conclusions in relation to them, still, actual observation
of the peculiar effects of these agents is greatly more
satisfactory, and far more to be relied upon. Mineral
waters often produce effects upon the animal economy

SWEET CHALYBEATE SPRINGS

125

that are not indicated by their analyses, and, in some
cases, they produce results that are directly contra-
indicated. But, in reference to these particular waters,
there seems to be quite a concfirrence between the in-
dications afforded by their analyses and actual observa-
tion as to their effects.

With both of these lights before us, we are forced to
regard the Red Spring water as being more decidedly
tonic in its influences upon the system than the water
of the Sweet Spring, and somewhat more exciting, too;
hence, all the cautions that have been urged in refer-
ence to the contra-indications of the use of the Sweet
Spring water, apply even with more force as to the use
of this.

From the same lights we also learn that, as a'very
gentle aperient, and a mild and somewhat less exciting
to/iic, the Sweet Springs have the preference, and espe-
cially in such cases as do not admit or require the use
of chalybeates. The diuretic effect is about the same
from the use of either water.

These general principles may, to some extent, I hope,
indicate the class of cases that will be most benefited
by one or the other of these springs. But it must be
confessed that the subject is sometimes an intricate one,
requiring a full knowledge of the case, with a careful
comparative estimate of the powers of the two waters,
to decide with certainty under the use of which the
patient will be most benefited. There is, however, a
large class of cases that will be essentially, if not equally,
benefited by the use of either of these waters. To such
cases as require the use of the irofi tonics, the Red Sweet
water is peculiarly well adapted, and maybe prescribed
with great confidence.

Both internally, and as a bath, the Red Sweet waters
are adapted to numerous diseases. As a tonic in cases
of nervous debility, or of general prostration, the result
of prior violent disease, they may be used with great
confidence. In dyspepsia, partictilarly when connected

126 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

with gastrodynia, and irregular pains in the stomach,
with want of tone in the alimentary canal, they may be
advantageously employed. In Gastralgla, or nervous
dyspepsia, after the force of the disease has been soft-
ened down by the use of medicines, or alterative min-
eral waters, they deserve the highest commendation.

Cases of chronic diarrhoea have been cured by the
Red Sweet waters, after other springs, more commonly
recommended for that disease, have failed to give relief.

Simple debility of the uterine and urinary functions
is very generally benefited by these waters. Sperma-
torrhoea, and that peculiar nervous prostration con-
nected with excessive or improper indulgences, are very
happily treated by them, where regard is had to the
state of the system in connection with their use. They
are profitably prescribed in debility resulting from ex-
hausting discharges, provided such discharges have left
no seat of irritation to which general excitement may
cause a rapid afflux of fluids with increased sensibility.

Ladies who are laboring under debility from long
confinement or nursing, — those whose health has be-
come impaired from want of exercise in the open air,
as well as those who have been enervated by leucorrhcea,
or other exhausting causes, will be greatly benefited by
using the water and bath.

In Neuralgic affections, unattended with organic
lesion or obstruction, this water is used with very gen-
eral success, and rarely fails to ameliorate or cure such
cases.

In speaking of the waters of the Red Sweet and
Sweet Springs, I wish to be understood as alluding to
the l>aths, as well as to the internal use of the waters.
In a large majority of cases, the bath is, doubtless, the
most prominent agent in effecting a cure. Merely as a
bath, there is probably little difference in the effects of
the two springs. The temperature of the Red Sweet
is two or three degrees warmer than the Sweet. This,
in some cases, might be a difference of importance,

SWEET CHALYBEATE SPRINGS.

127

and not to be overlooked by the physician or the
invalid.

The effects experienced after coming out of these
baths, provided the patient has not indulged himself in
them too long, are as remarkable as they are agreeable.
They differ widely from the effects of an ordinary cold
bath. There is an elasticity and buoyancy of body and
spirit that makes one feel like leaping walls or clearing
ditches at a single bound. This cannot be from the
absorption of any of the materials of the water by the
cutaneous vessels. The few minutes that we remain in
the water, especially the very short time after the stric-
ture of the skin from the first plunge has passed off,
forbid such an idea. May it not be owing to a stimu-
lant impression imparted by the carbonic acid gas to
the nerves of the skin, and by sympathy extended
rapidly over the whole body?

About a mile from the Sweet Chalybeate, and on the
same estate, a bold spring, decidedly sulphurous in char-
acter, issues from under a heavy ledge of rocks. If the
surface waters that probably find a way into this spring
were carefully excluded, it might constitute a sulphur
fountain worthy of notice.

CHAPTER XIII.

HOT SPRINGS.

Effects of the Waters Internally and Externally used — Analysis —
Diseases to which they are applicable — Speculations on Thermali-
zation, etc.

The Hot Springs are in the county of Bath, thirty-
five miles northeast from the White Sulphur, and
twenty-one west from Millborough Depot. Comfort-
able bathing-houses have been erected for the accom-
modation both of male and female patients. In each
of these houses suitable arrangements are made for
taking the sweat o\ plunge bath, as may be desired ; or
for receiving the douche when it may be required.

The several baths are supplied with water from sepa-
rate springs; they range in temperature from ioo° to
1 06° of heat. The effects of these waters in disease
prove that they are medicated, though they are con-
sidered by many as simple hot water. They are known
to contain sulphate and carbonate of lime, sulphate of
soda and magnesia, a minute portion of muriate of iron,
carbonic acid gas, nitrogen gas, and a trace of sulphu-
retted hydrogen gas ; and, when used internally, some
of the consequences are such as we might expect from
our knowledge of their constituent parts.

These waters, taken internally, are antacid, mildly
aperient, and freely diuretic and diaphoretic. But,
when used as a general bath, their effects are very de-
cided. They equalize an unbalanced circulation, and
thereby restore the system to its natural sensibility,
upon the existence of which their capacity to perform
(128)

HOT SPRINGS. I2g

their several functions, and the beneficial action of all
remedies, depend. They relax contracted tendons ;
excite the action of absorbent vessels ; promote glan-
dular secretion ; exert a marked influence over the
biliary and urinary systems, and often relieve, in a
short time, the pain caused by palpable and long-stand-
ing disease in some vital organ.

They have been analyzed by Professor William B.
Rogers. The saline ingredients in one hundred cubic
inches of water are —

Carbonate of lime 7013

Carbonate of magnesia 1324

Sulphate of lime 1.302

Sulphate of magnesia i-530

Sulphate of soda 1-363

Chloride of sodium and magnesium, with a trace of chlo-
ride of calcium 0.105

Proto-carbonate of iron 0.096

Silica 0.045

12.778

The free gas consists of nitrogen, oxygen, and car-
bonic acid gas. It also contains a mere trace of sul-
phuretted hydrogen.

The heat of the human body, as ascertained by in-
serting the bulb of a thermometer under the tongue, is
about 96°, — sometimes as high as 98° ; and these degrees
seem to be the same, with little variation, in all parts of
the world, neither affected, in the healthy body, by the
heat of the torrid nor the cold of the frigid zones. But
this, however, relates only to the internal temperature of
the body; the heat of the skin is very variable, and,
generally, considerably below the degree of animal
heat. This arises from the great cooling process of
evaporation, constantly going on over the whole sur-
face ; its sensibility to all external impressions, and its
exposure to the atmosphere, which seldom rises so high
as 98°, even in the highest heats of summer.

From a view of these causes, we will easily be led to
12

I30

MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

perceive why a bath heated to 98° gives a strong and
decided sense of warmth to the skin ; and a sensation
of slight warmth, rather than of chilliness, is felt, even
several degrees below this point.

Whenever a bath is raised above the degree of animal
heat, it then becomes a direct stimulus to the whole
system, rapidly accelerates the pulse, increases the force
of the circulation, renders the skin red and susceptible,
and the vessels full and turgid.

The temperature of the Hot Spring baths, ranging
from 100° to 106°, must be decidedly stimzilant, and
the more or less so according to the particular bath
employed. It is probable that to their stimulant power
we are mainly indebted for their curative virtue. The
soothing and tranquillizing effects, which often follow
their use, are the result of their sanative influence in
bringing the organism into a normal condition.

Hot baths are potent and positive agents. When
applied to the human body they are never negative in
their influences, but will do either good or harm, ac-
cording to the judgment and skill with which they are
employed.

Their stimulant influences forbid their use in all
acute diseases, and they are contra-indicated in such
chronic cases as are attended with high vascular ex-
citement, or exalted nervous susceptibility. There are,
nevertheless, a large number of chi-ouic diseases in which
hot bathing constitutes the most rational and the chief
reliance of the invalid. But these potent agents should
never be prescribed merely for the naine of a disease,
however carefully its nomenclature has been selected.
The precise existing state of the system, whatever may
be the pathology of the disease, ought always to be care-
fully looked to before a course of hot bathing is directed.

These baths are found eminently useful in most cases
of chronic rheumatism, and in the various forms oi gout.
In \oca\ paralysis, occasioned by the use of any of the
mineral poisons, or in metastasis of gout, rheumatism.

HOT SPRINGS.

131

or other diseases, they may be used with good effect.
Chronic bronchitis, especially if connected with a gouty
diathesis ; deafness, connected with defective or vitiated
secretions of the membrane of the ear ; old sprains, or
other painful injuries of the joints, are often much
benefited by their use.

Diseases of the Uterine Systejn, such as amenorrhoea,
painful dysmenorrhoea, etc., are often relieved here.

In some of the more obstinate forms of biliary de-
rangements they are used with happy effects, particu-
larly the hot douche, when applied over the region of
the liver to relieve the torpor of that organ.

So much has been written on the medical appli-
cability of thermal waters, that I have not thought
it necessary here to do more than to lay down a few
general principles to guide the invalid in their use,
and to allude to some particular diseases, for the cure
of which these springs are known to be well adapted.

The cause of the high temperature of thermal springs
has long been a matter of curious speculation. Some
have attributed it to the agency of electricity; but this
must be regarded in the light of an ingenious specu-
lation, rather than the result of observation and facts.
It is very common now to regard various phenomena
as the result of electrical influences, principally, per-
haps, because we know the agent to be very potent
and pervading, but partly because of our ignorance of
the general laws by which electricity is governed. But,
whatever the facts may be, there seems to be no proof
approximating to a reasonable probability, that elec-
tricity is principally concerned in producing the high
temperature of thermal waters.

Another theory, and one which elicits the largest
amount of credence from scientific men, alleges that
"the heat of thermal springs is owing to the central
heat of the globe, and that it increases in proportion to

132

MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

the depth from which they proceed." The philoso-
pher Laplace embraced this theory, and it is, I believe,
held by most geologists. It is urged,* and, to some
extent, is well maintained, that the temperature of the
earth increases, as we descend into it, about one de-
gree for every hundred feet; and if the increase con-
tinues in this proportion, we should arrive at boiling
water at the depth of less than three miles. In proof
of this fact, the regular increase of temperature, as
borings have descended into the earth in the artesian
well at Paris, now eighteen hundred feet deep, and
throwing out, by a subterranean power, an immense
volume of warm water, might be cited. But what are
we to do with the apparently refuting fact exhibited
in the salt wells at Kanawha in West Virginia? Several
of these wells have been bored to the depth of sixteen
or seventeeji hundred feet, and without any appreciable
increase of temperature.

Other theorists suppose that thermal springs owe
their temperature to circumscribed volcanoes, and that
such springs are a sort of safety-valve to those subter-
raneous conflagrations. It is well known that an earth-
quake, or an eruption of a volcano, has often produced
a change in the temperature of thermal springs that
were even at some distance from the place where these
phenomena occurred.

There is still another theory, "that supposes that
the heat of these springs is produced by certain pro-
cesses going on in the interior of the earth, and that
these processes are attended with an absorption of oxy-
gen and a consequent extrication of caloric." In the
absence of any positive knowledge on the subject, this
theory would seem to be sustained by as much proba-

* See Professor Daubeny's essay, in the sixth Report of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science.

HOT SPRINGS. 133

bility as any of the others that have been alluded to.
But this is a subject that falls strictly within the
province of geology; and the zeal and success with
which that science is being prosecuted, afford reason-
able grounds to look to its votaries for some elucida-
tion of this curious topic.

12^

CHAPTER XIV.

WARM SPRINGS.

Analysis — Time and Manner of Using — Diseases for which Em-
ployed, etc.

The Warm Springs are in a narrow vale, at the
western base of the Warm Spring Mountain, in the
county of Bath, fifty miles west of Staunton, and five
miles northeast from the Hot Springs. They are
among the oldest of our watering-places, having been
resorted to on account of their medicinal virtues for
more than ninety years. The property was patented
by Governor Fauquier to the Lewis family, in 1760.

Several of our medicinal fountains claim to have been
known and appreciated by the aborigines of the country.
In reference to this particular one, there are many tales
related by that venerable class, the oldest inhabitants, of
the discovery and use of its waters by the Indians.

It is a matter of sober history, that very soon after
the discovery of the Warm Springs by civilized man,
they became celebrated for their curative qualities, in
various diseases, as well as for the mere luxury of bath-
ing ; and that they were frequented, at much labor and
fatigue, by invalids, before any other (save the Sweet
Springs) of the valuable watering-places in Virginia
were known.

The following is the result of an analysis of a stand-
ard gallon of this water by Mr. Hayes, of Boston : —

Sulphate of potash 1.371 grains.

Sulphate of ammonia 0.369 "

(134)

WARM SPRINGS.

135

Sulphate of lime i4S3i grains.

Carbonate of lime S.220 "

Crenate of iron 2.498 "

Silicate of magnesia and alumina 1-724 "

Carbonic acid 6.919 "

32.632

The virtues of this water are probably owing to its
temperature, rather than to any medicinal agents com-
bined with it. The supply of water is very abundant,
— estimated at six thousand gallons a minute. For the
gentlemen^ s bath, it is received into a room thirty-eight
feet in diameter, and may be raised to the depth of six
feet. After it has been used, the water is drawn off
and the bath fills again in fifteen or twenty minutes.
The bathing arrangement for ladies is extensive,
convenient, and comfortable. This bath is circular,
and fifty feet in diameter; surrounded by twenty-
two dressing-rooms, with private baths of warm and
cold water, and is the largest and most complete es-
tablishment of the kind to be found anywhere in our
country. Adjoining the gentlemen's bath, a room has
been constructed for a coXdi plunge bath, which is plen-
tifully supplied with common spring water, piped from
the neighboring hills, of a temperature of from 60°
to 65°.

The common practice in the use of the Warm Spring
bath is, to bathe twice a day, and remain in the water
from twelve to twenty minutes each time. In some
cases, especially when the bath is used for cutaneous
diseases, the patient may profitably remain in for a
much longer period, even from half an hour to one
hour. As a general rule, and especially for delicate
persons, active exercise should be avoided while in the
bath, and always, on coming out, the bather should be
well rubbed over the whole body with a coarse towel.

The best times for bathing are, in the morning be-
fore breakfast, and on an empty stomach an hour be-
fore dinner. Where perspiration is required, the bath

136 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

should be taken in the evening, the patient retiring
to bed immediately after.

The diseases for which these baths have been profit-
ably employed are numerous ; among them are atonic
gout, chronic rheumatism, indolent swellings of the
joints or lymphatic glands, paralysis, obstructions of
the liver and spleen, old syphilitic and syphiloid dis-
eases, chronic cutaneous diseases, nephritic and calcu-
lous disorders, amenorrhoea and dysmenorrcea. Occa-
sionally, chronic diarrhoea is relieved. The same may
be said of neuralgia ; but, most generally, we find
baths of somewhat lower temperature more beneficial
in this disease. In connection with the internal use of
the alum waters, these baths will be found very service-
able in the various and distressing forms of scrofula.
In painful affections of the limbs, following a mercu-
rial course, they are efficacious, and the more so if em-
ployed in connection with the internal use of the sul-
phur waters.

Some precautions should be observed in entering
upon the use of these baths, even by those to whose
diseases they may be well adapted. The bowels should
be open, or in a solvent condition; the state of the
tongue should indicate a good condition of the stom-
ach ; the patient should be free from febrile excitement,
and from the weariness and exhaustion generally the
result of traveling in the public conveyances in hot
weather. Many commit an error, and occasionally
make themselves quite ill, by imprudently plunging
into the bath immediately after arriving at the springs,
and before they have in any degree become relieved
from the fatigue and excitement of the travel necessary
to reach them. From such an imprudent course, the
bather has little rational grounds to hope for benefit,
and is fortunate if he escape without injury.

Timely and properly used, these baths are entirely
safe ; and for the luxury of bathing, are equal, or supe-
rior, to any elsewhere to be found.

CHAPTER XV.

HEALING SPRINGS.

Location — Analyses — Therapeutic Action — Diseases for which they
may be Prescribed, etc.

This medicinal fountain is in Bath County, Virginia,
and is one of the thertnal springs that give name to that
county, and for which the chain of valleys, that lie at
the western base of the Warm Spring Mountain, is so
remarkable. The most southern of the jgroup is the
Falling Spring Valley, which embosoms the water under
notice.

The Healing Springs comprise three separate springs.
Two of these are quite near each other, and the third
at a distance of perhaps two hundred yards in the same
ravine. These springs are beautifully bright and crys-
talline ; and the ever-bursting bubbles of gas, that
escape with the water and float in myriads of vesicles
upon its surface, impart to it a peculiar sparkling ap-
pearance.

Their' temperature is uniformly 86° Fahr., nor are
they subject to any variation of quantity or quality.

The following is Prof. Aiken's analysis of what is
termed the New Spring : —

New Spring, spec. grav. 100030. Temperature 88 deg. Fahrenheit,
Water feebly acid to test-paper. One gallon contains —

Carbonate of lime 18.721 grains.

Carbonate of magnesia 1-964 "

Carbonate of iron 275 "

Sulphate of lime 1.263 "

Sulphate of magnesia 7-392 "

(137)

138

MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

Sulphate of potassa 2.530 grains.

Sulphate of iron 100

Sulphate of ammonia 234 "

Chloride of potassium 253 "

Chloride of sodium 288

Silicic acid 1.820

Organic acid, probably crenic 876 "

Carbonic acid 2.286 "

Sulphuretted hydrogen oooio "

^'"°.'"'"Matraceofeach.
lodme j

38.00210 "

The bubbles of gas that rise contain in 100 parts nitrogen gas
97.25, carbonic acid gas 2.75.

The contents of the Old Spring are essentially the
same, being somewhat less abundant in solid material.

A species of algce springs up luxuriantly in these
waters. It is of a dark-green color, and exceedingly
delicate and beautiful in structure. The water, when
drunk, acts in three principal ways upon the system, to
wit : upon the kidneys, the bowels, and the skin ; and
the relative affinity for each particular organ is cor-
rectly indicated by the order of their enumeration.
The direction to either is influenced somewhat by the
condition of the system and by the manner of using the
water. But while it is capable of being directed to
either organ specifically, it may be so employed as to
exert a general and not less salutary effect over the
whole at once. Its simultaneous action upon three
great emunctories of the body, with its capacity to be
directed specifically to either, constitutes this water a
safe and gentle, but at the same time a certain and
efficient, depurating agent of the human body.

Bathing, both general and topical, is a valuable and
important mode of employing the water, and should
not be neglected when demanded by the circumstances
of a given case.

The water of the Healing Springs, so far as it is capa-

HEALING SPRINGS.

139

ble of classification, may be regarded, in its general
action upon the system, as alterative and tonic, both
directly and indirectly ; but inasmuch as it is an agent
sui generis in its character, we doubt the correctness of
limiting its action by restrictive definitions.

The first employment of these springs, and their
earliest manifestation of curative powers, was in ill-
conditio7ied ulcers and intractable affections of the skin ;
and hence the significant name they bear.

Scrofula is believed to be amenable to this agent.
Recently, several cures of this malady are reported to
have occurred under its use.

In chronic ophthalmic affections, gratifying results may
be anticipated from the judicious use of these springs.

In all the varieties of ulcers and local inflammations
treated by this water, a new agent may be employed ;
it is the topical application of the moss that grows
luxuriantly in the baths and streams that flow from
them. This has a peculiar effect. When applied to
a diseased surface, it becomes painful, sometimes ex-
ceedingly so ; and yet, upon inspection of the part,
its redness has been dispelled, and a new and more
healthy action established. When the application has
been long continued, the surface becomes blanched
and corrugated.

In subacute rheumatism these waters have acquired
considerable reputation. For the relief of the suffer-
ing, and to correct the morbid condition upon which
it depends, they may often be employed, both exter-
nally and internally, with benefit.

The temperature of the water is not so high as to
stimulate this form into the acute, nor so low as to en-
danger the patient by sudden metastasis, while both
effects are guarded against by its diuretic action, and
its tendency to the bowels and skin. In the present
instance, as in other cases, where it is desirable to give
the water a decided direction to the bowels or skin,
appropriate adjuvants should be employed.

I40 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

In neuralgia, a congener of the disease just con-
sidered, the water is frequently found to be remedial,
and, from its alleviation of the thrilling, piercing pain
attendant upon this affection, one of the springs re-
ceived long since the homely but expressive title of
"Toothache Spring." It is to those cases, dependent
upon general derangement of the system, resulting from
a residence in unhealthy districts of country, or those
that have their origin in nervous irritability, or spring
from a gouty or rheumatic diathesis, that the water is
adapted.

Dyspepsia, that inveterate scourge of the sedentary
and thoughtful, not unfrequently finds an antidote in
these waters.

For chronic thrush or aphthce, the Healing Springs
have been employed with success.

I have occasionally sent patients, suffering under
chronic affections of the lining coat of the bowels, to this
water with good effect.

Leucorrhcea, and other kindred disorders of the
female, when independent of malignant action, or
actual displacement of organs, will often yield to the
free internal and external use of the waters.

Some of the diseases of the urinary organs are favor-
ably controlled by these waters ; among which may be
enumerated chronic irritation, with mucous discharges
from the bladder. I have had occasion to be pleased
with their effects in several such cases.

CHAPTER XVI.

ROCKBRIDGE ALUM SPRINGS.

Analysis — Remarks on Analysis — The Name Alum a Misnomer, etc. —
Therapeutic Effects of the Waters — Diseases in which they are em-
ployed— Their Excellent Effects in Scrofula, etc.

These springs are situated in the northern part of
the county of Rockbridge, on the main turnpike road
leading from the town of Lexington to the Warm
Springs, seventeen miles from the former and about
twenty-one from the latter.

Small reservoirs cut in the rock receive the alum
water as it percolates through a heavy cliff of slate-
stone. There are five of these reservoirs or springs, all
differing slightly from each other, and also differing
from themselves at different times, being stronger, and
the water also more abundant, in rainy weather.

These waters were analyzed by Prof. Hayes, of Bos-
ton, in 1852.

From a gallon of the water he produced the follow-
ing results: —

Sulphate of potash 1-765

Sulphate of lime 3.263

Sulphate of magnesia 1.763

Protoxide of iron • 4-863

Alumina I7-90S

Crenate of ammonia 0.700

Chloride of sodium 1.008

Silicic acid 2.840

Free sulphuric acid 15.224

Carbonic acid 7-356

56.687
Pure water 58315-313

58372.000
13 ( 141 )

142 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

Alum waters are of somewhat recent introduction as
remedial agents, and close practical observation is yet
a desideratum as to their peculiar therapeutical agency
and most appropriate medicinal applicability. These
waters certainly possess unequivocal curative powers,
and, although their reputation is now high, they are
destined to advance still further in public confidence.
Experience has fully shown that they are very effica-
ciously used in many diseases of the skin and the gland-
ular system, and that in scrofulous affections they offer
new hopes to the afflicted.

But the name Alum, applied to these springs, while it
is intended to conform to the general spring nomen-
clature of calling springs after some one of their leading
ingredients, is, medically considered, a misnomer, and
conveys the erroneous idea that their virtues are owing
to the alum they hold in solution.

Chemically considered, they are an aliuttmous sul-
phated chalybeate, containing, as will be seen from their
analysis, many of the best materials that are found
in the most valued mineral waters of Europe or this
country. The protoxides of iron, sodium, potash, lime,
magnesia, and ammonia, together with sulphuric, car-
bonic, crenic, chloric, and silicic acids, exist in the
water in common with alum. Some of these ingre-
dients are found in the most distinguished of the
English and German waters, particularly in those of
Tunbridge, Harrogate, Leamington, and Aix-la-Cha-
pelle, as well as in the waters of the famous Spa, in
Belgium ; in those of Passy, and in the celebrated
springs of Bagneres, in Garonne ; all of which have
acquired a world-wide celebrity for the cure of many
diseases for which the Rockbridge Alum has been suc-
cessfully prescribed.

The fact should always be borne in mind by those
who are investigating mineral waters, that it is rather
to the compound, than to any single ingredient of a
mineral water, that we are to look for its medicinal

ROCKBRIDGE ALUM SPRINGS.

143

efficiency and the scope of its applicability. That
alum is an important ingredient in the compound of
this water I do not mean to question, but that it is so
transcendently important as to give name to the spring
is very questionable. It is said that a rose by any
other name will smell as sweet, and so will this ahtjni-
nous sulphated dialybeate be just as efficacious under the
appellation of Alum. But the real objection to the
misnomer lies behind this, and exists in the fact that
it is calculated to mislead the uninitiated, in the ab-
sence of analysis or careful inquiry. Indeed, I have
reason to know that persons have not unfrequently
been disinclined to visit the Alum, influenced by the
name alone, and under the impression that the water,
as its name imports, would act as an astringent, and
therefore be hurtful to them.

But whether the name be, or be not, the best that
could have been adopted, it is now a fixture, established
by many years' usage, and is not likely to be changed ;
and my only object in calling attention to the subject
is to enter a caution against persons being misled as
to the character of the water from the mere name of
the spring.

The immediate effects of these waters, under their
full and kindly influences upon the system, are those of
a febrifuge tonic; resembling the action of some of our
best vegetable medicines of that class; but superior to
them, from their specific tendency to the bowels and
kidneys.

By their diffusible astringent and tonic powers they
resolve the congestions of engorged viscera and re-
move subacute inflammations ; thus releasing and giving
activity to the fluids, they fill up the superficial capil-
laries and veins, and give a full, slow pulse, with a
warm surface, and soft skin.

They purge mildly, perhaps, two-thirds of the per-
sons that use them freely. Their action upon the
kidneys is generally prompt, sure, and sometimes active.

144 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

Their action upon the skin is secondary, and is the
result of their sanative action upon the blood-vessels
and internal organs, by resolving inflammation and
congestions, — and hence is always to be regarded as a
favorable indication in the case.

Experience has shown that these waters are efifi-
caciously prescribed in many diseases of the skin and
glandular system; lupus and other malignant ulcera-
tions of the mouth and throat have been cured by
them.

In various chronic affections of the digestive organs
they are advantageously used.

They are valuable in mescfiteric affections, particu-
larly in persons, old or young, of scorbutic tendencies.

In chronic diarrhoea they display speedy and happy
effects.

Being prompt and active as a diuretic, when judi-
ciously used, they are found beneficial in ch}-onic irrita-
tions, and debility of the kidney, bladder, and uretlira.

To several of the affections commonly known as
female diseases they are happily adapted. In leucor-
rhoea, as would readily be inferred from their com-
position, they are an admirable remedy; often curing
that disease, although it has been a complaint of long
standing. In menorrhagia, unattended with plethora
of the blood-vessels, and with the system in a condition
to bear tonics, they may be prescribed with confidence.
In amenorrhea and dysmenorrhoea, where a phlogosed
state of the system does not contra-indicate the use of
mineral tonics, they may be used to eminent advantage.
In the chlorotic condition of the female system gen-
erally, and especially when the tendency is great to
paucity or poverty of blood, the waters will be used to
much advantage.

In ancEmic conditions generally, and in cases of
debility and loss of tone in the nervous system, they
may be administered with confidence.

Bronchitis, when in connection with a strumous

ROCKBRIDGE ALUM SPRINGS.

145

diathesis, may be treated by these waters to advan-
tage; in such cases they will be found to be one of
our best remedies.

In gasti-algia, or nervous dyspepsia, they often act
kindly and effectively, by changing the action of the
mucous membrane and relieving it of its subacute
irritation.

They actively promote the appetite and invigorate
the digestive powers.

But it is especially in scrofula that these waters
have won their highest honors and established a repu-
tation among the best mineral waters not only of this
country but of the world. Their happy combination
of tonic, alterative, diuretic, and aperient qualities
renders them an efficient remedy in many of the ills
of humanity ; but especially in the various forms of
strumous disease, and even their worst forms, they
merit confidence and deserve praise. In this formi-
dable class of affections, whether exhibited in the
hardened and enlarged glands, and in ulcerations in
children, in ophthalmic inflammations, in mesenteric
indurations, or in its more intense and pervading devel-
opment of adult life, they have been extensively used,
and generally with benefit to the sufferers.

But let me not be misunderstood as intending to
convey the impression that they will cure every case
of this disease, whatever may be its seat, character,
or combination ; both my judgment and experience
fall short of this conclusion ; but they both concur
in regarding the remedy as among the best, if not
the very best, now known for. scrofula.

The Rockbridge Alum, as therapeutic water, is not
a negative agent : its effects upon the system are posi-
tive, direct, and palpable. It is, in a high sense of
the term, a medicinal water, capable, when properly
directed and applied, of doing great good in a wide
circle of cases, or, when injudiciously used, of disap-
pointing hopes and producing injury. It does not
13*

146 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

belong to that anomalous class of agents of which it is
often said " they will do no harm if they do no good."
Such being the potent character of these waters, the
importance that cases which are to be submitted to
their use should be carefully discriminated, and that
the water should be employed under the direction of
judgment and experience, must be apparent to all.

JORDON ROCKBRIDGE ALUM SPRINGS.

This is the name given to a new alum spring just
opened in the immediate vicinity of the old Rock-
bridge Alum, and flowing from the same strata of slate
formation that supply the water of the latter spring.

The analysis of this water by Professor William Gil-
ham shows that one gallon of it contains — •

Of silica 2.920 grains.

Of sulphate of alumina 5-689 "

Of sulphate of magnesia 4.666 "

Of sulphate of lime 3.808 "

Of sulphate of proto.xide of iron 8.398 "

Of sulphate of potash 0.658 "

Of free sulphuric acid 8.858 "

Chloride of sodium, in small quantity, not deter-
mined.
Organic matter, not determined.

The analysis of this spring, being very similar to
that of the old Alum in its immediate neighborhood,
shows its therapeutic applicabilities to be essentially
the same as those of the latter water. Besides this alum,
there is, near the hotel built on the property, a chalybeate
spring, which has not been analyzed, but promises to
be a valuable water of its class.

There is also attached to this property another spring,
known as Iodine Alum Water, which possesses valuable
medicinal powers, and some peculiar to itself. The
water of this spring is not only adapted to the treat-
ment of the various diseases for which other alum waters
are used, but also, from its highly alterative compo-
sition, to be a reliable reiiiedy in cases wherein those
waters would be uncertain or inefficient.

CHAPTER XVII.

BATH ALUM SPRINGS.

Analysis — Diseases and States of the System in which they may be
Prescribed, etc.

The Bath Alum Springs are situated near the east-
ern base of the Warm Spring Mountain, on the main
stage road leading from Staunton to the Warm Springs,
forty-five miles west of the former and five miles east of
the latter place.

The valley in which they arise is an extensive cove,
irregularly encircled by mountains, with an unproduc-
tive sandy soil, and affords indications of salubrity and
healthfulness.

It is only within the last twenty-five years that these
springs began to attract public attention as a mineral
water ; and it is not more than twenty years since the
grounds near the springs, now so elegantly and taste-
fully improved, were a wild and primitive forest. The
property is owned by Joseph Baxter, Esq., who gives
his personal attention to its management.

The improvements here are substantial and con-
venient, affording comfortable accommodations for a
large company.

The Alum waters issue from a slate-stone cliff twelve
or fifteen feet high, and are received into small reser-
voirs, that have been excavated near each other in the
rock. These different springs, or reservoirs, differ
somewhat from each other. One of them is a very
strong chalybeate, with but little alum ; another is a
milder chalybeate, with more alumina; while the others

(147)

148 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

are alum of different degrees of strength, but all con-
taining an appreciable quantity of iron.

Prof. Hayes, of Boston, the same gentleman to whom
we are indebted for the analysis of several of our min-
eral springs, has analyzed the waters of the Bath Alum,
and renders the following results from his chemical
investigations.

A standard gallon (58.372 grains) was the measure
of water of the spring known as No. 2, used in his anal-
ysis, and showed the following results: —

Pure water 58317.206

Free sulphuric acid 7-878

Carbonic acid 3-846

Sulphate of potash .258

Magnesia 1.282

Lime 2.539

Protoxide of iron 21.776

Alumina 12.293

Crenate of ammonia 1-776

Silicate of soda 3-iSo

54-798
Pure water 58317.202

58372.000

Mr. Hayes states that when much reduced in volume
by evaporation, the excess of acid chars the organic
acid present, and alters the composition of the salts.

"In considering the composition of these waters, the
protoxide of iron is assumed to be united to the sul-
phuric acid. The change produced by heating is re-
ferred to the action of the crenate of ammonia, and is
the same as ordinarily where crenates, free from apo-
crenates, are naturally contained in a water. When
mixed with the soluble salts of silver, and exposed to
light, the gray color is entirely distinct from that pro-
duced by either apocrenates, humates, or any decom-
posing matter. When the metallic silver and oxide of
iron, resulting from the first action, are removed, the
mixture by evaporation continues to afford brilliant

BA TH AL UM SPRINGS.

149

scales of metallic silver, until reduced to a small
volume.

"The gaseous matter in these waters is a mixture of
carbonic acid, nitrogen, and a small proportion of
oxygen, and the measure is about one volume of the
mixed gases to forty volumes of the water. The car-
bonic acid is given by weight, so that a uniform expres-
sion of acid relation is adopted, and no misconception
can arise if the reader bears in mind the fact that car-
bonic acid has more than twice the acid or neutralizing
power possessed by the strongest fluid sulphuric acid."

Dr. Strother, an intelligent physician, who long
resided in the neighborhood, thought very favorably of
these waters in scrofulous, eruptive, and dyspeptic affec-
tions. He also bears testimony to their good effects in old
hepatic derangements , chronic diarrhoea, chronic thrush,
7iervous debility, and in various uterifie diseases, espe-
cially in the worst forms of menorrhagia, and in fluor
albus, both uterine and vaginal.

In chlorotic females, and in a broken-down condition
of the nervous system, often in males the result of
youthful improprieties, as well as when the system is
ancejnic, but free from obstinate visceral obstructions,
this water promises to be very beneficial.

Its high chalybeate and aluminous impregnation
manifests decided tonic and astringent powers, and
indicates its adaptation to a number of diseases, such
as hemorrhages of the passive character, the profluvia,
obstinate cutaneous and ulcerative diseases, and aiiajnic
conditions of the system generally, that are unattended
with visceral obstructions.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Rockbridge Baths — Cold Sulphur Springs — Variety Springs — Strib-
hng's Springs.

ROCKBRIDGE BATHS.

This new Virginia spa is situated in the county of
Rockbridge, on the stage road from Lexington to the
Goshen Depot on the Central Railroad, and about
equidistant from the two places.

The waters of these baths are impregnated with iron,
and abound richly in carbonic acid gas. There are
here two bold springs, furnishing sufificient water for
two bathing establishments. The property is hand-
somely and conveniently improved, and capable of ac-
commodating from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
visitors.

As a to7iic bath, adapted to nervous diseases, general
debility, and to that comprehensive class of cases found
to be so essentially benefited by tonic bathing, — and
especially after the use of alterative mineral waters, —
these baths will be found highly efficacious, and are
destined to be a favorite resort to a large class of invalids.

They are conveniently reached, either from Lexing-
ton or Goshen Depot, by stages running over well-
graded roads.

COLD SULPHUR SPRING.

This is a very pleasant sulphur spring, about seven
miles east of the Rockbridge Alum, and two miles west
from Goshen Depot on the Central Railroad, in the
county of Rockbridge.
(150)

VARIETY SPRINGS.—STRIBLING' S SPRINGS.

151

The water of this spring has not been analyzed. It
is distinctly sulphurous in character, however, and has
acquired a considerable amount of favor as a medicinal
agent. The spring is regarded as a place of useful and
pleasant resort by those who visit it.

The general medicinal adaptations of the water are
the same as those of the other sulphurous waters of the
country, which have been fully noticed in treating of
the White Sulphur waters, etc.

VARIETY SPRINGS.

This name has been given to a series of fountains
in close connection with each other, in the county of
Augusta, seventeen miles west from the city of Staun-
ton, and near the " Pond Gap" Station, on the Central
Railroad.

The name Variety, applied to them, seems to be well
chosen, as there are here not only an alum and a cha-
lybeate spring, and one of the peculiar characteristics
of the Healing Spring in the county of Bath, but also
several others differing from all these, whose precise
character has not been well defined.

These waters have been too short a time in use to
have established a definite record of their medicinal
virtues or adaptations ; nor have any of them, I be-
lieve, been analyzed ; their favorable location, how-
ever, and the variety and promising character of their
waters, bid fair to bring them prominently into public
notice, and ultimately to induce the erection of such
improvements as a growing patronage will demand.

STRIBLING'S SPRINGS.

These springs are in the county of Augusta, thirteen
miles north of Staunton, from which they may be con-
veniently reached by stage-coaches.

For many years this place was valued mainly on ac-

152

MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

count of its sulphur and chalybeate waters, but within
the last few years an alum spring of much promise has
been opened near the sulphur fountain, and the place
now presents the three varieties of Sulphur, Alum, and
Chalybeate to the choice of the visitant.

The Sulphur Spring has been long known as a safe
and valuable water of its kind, efficacious for the various
diseases for which such waters are generally employed.

Professor Campbell, of Washington College, has ana-
lyzed this spring, and produces the following results
from a standard gaWon of the water: —

Carbonic acid gas 8.250 cubic in. 3.899 grains.

Sulphuretted hydrogen gas 2.470 " 0.912

Sulphate of potassa 0.441

Sulphate of soda 0.812

Chloride of sodium 0.610

Carbonate of soda 1.203

Carbonate of lime 5-517

Carbonate of magnesia 3864

Phosphate of lime 0.002

Silicate of soda 0-253

Organic matter 1.229

18.772

The Alum Spring has also been analyzed by Pro-
fessor Campbell, with the following results from a stand-
ard gallon of the water : —

Sulphate of iron 12.125 grains.

Tersulphate of alumina 16.675 "

Sulphate of potassa 1-324 "

Sulphate of hme 6.877 "

Sulphate of magnesia 3-371 "

Chloride of sodium 0.640 "

Crenate of ammonia 0.630

Silica 1.550

Free sulphuric acid 9.092

Carbonic acidgas 3-575

55-859 "

A comparison of this analysis with that of the Rock

S TRIE LING'S SPRINGS.

153

bridge Alum shows a striking similarity, not only in
the character of the ingredients contained in the two
waters, but also in the relative proportion of such
ingredients.

While this water holds in solution a larger amount of
sulphate of iron, magnesia, and lime, it contains some-
Avhat less of alumina, potassa, sodium, silica, and am-
monia. The Rockbridge Alum, it will be seen, contains
a greater weight of sulphuric and carbonic acid gas.

While both public and professional opinion of the
value of this water is very favorable, there seems, never-
theless, not to have been any considerable amount of
careful and practical observation of its peculiar thera-
peutic effects, in a large circle of cases.

But in the absence of such actual observation of its
effects, the essential similarity of the water to the Rock-
bridge waters, whose virtues and adaptations are now
pretty well known, leaves no reasonable doubt of the
great value of this spring, and indicates with a good
deal of clearness its adaptations to the various forms of
diseases so happily treated by the waters which it so
much resembles in chemical composition.

14

CHAPTER XIX.

Rawley's Spring -

■ Massanetta Springs -
Springs.

•Jordan's White Sulphur

RAWLEY'S SPRING.

Rawley's Spring is situated on the southern slope
of the North Mountain, in the county of Rockingham,
twelve miles northwest from Harrisonburg, and about
one hundred and twenty miles northeast from the White
Sulphur.

The Rawley water is a compound chalybeate, happily
adapted, by the association of its medicinal ingredients,
to act as an efficient tonic and alterative ; and its suc-
cessful administration for many years proves that it
possesses curative properties beyond those of an ordi-
nary ferruginous tonic.

The following is Professor Mallet's chemical exami-
nation of this water: —

Protoxide of iron 1-3214 grs. per Imp'l gallon.

Protoxide of manganese 0122

Alumina 0514

Magnesia 3874

Lime 3536

Li thia (detected by spectroscope) trace.

Soda 3065

Potash 0721

Ammonia trace.

Sulphuric acid 5208

Chlorine 0315

Silicic acid 8163

Carbonic acid (combined) 1.5624

Organic matter (including humoid

acids) 3531

(154)

H

RAWLEY'S SPRING. 155

The gases dissolved are as follows : —

Carbonic acid 7.42 cubic inches per Imperial gallon.

Oxygen 2.07 " " " "

Nitrogen 4.18 " " " "

The protoxide of iron in the water of the two other
springs was determined as follows: —

Smaller fountain i-i777 grains per Imperial gallon.

Upper spring 1.5290 " " "

This analysis, showing that the water not only con-
tains/r^/(?.x/V/^ of iron, with carbonic acid in excess, but
also that it contains silicic acid, alumina, mangafiese,
magnesia, soda, lithia, amnio7iia, sulphuric acid, chlorine.
Bind potash, evidences that it is not only tonic but also
alterative in its powers. It may be hopefully looked to
as remedial in chronic disease generally which is at-
tended with low and deficient vital action ; and espe-
cially in chronic anaemia, chlorosis, hysteria, fluor albus,
dyspeptic depravities, passive hemorrhages, nervous
diseases, and particularly in a large class of female dis-
orders depending upon uterine derangement, with de-
ficiency of vital force, and, indeed, in chronic maladies
generally that are connected with paucity or poverty
of blood, and consequent weakness of the general
system.

Comparing the natural constituents of healthy human
blood with the leading ingredients contained in this
water, it is not difficult to account for its adaptedness as
an alterative and restorer of that fluid, and for its effi-
ciency as a tonic to the relaxed and enervated system
generally.

The writer has had considerable professional expe-
rience for many years in the direction of this water for
his patients, either as z. primary or secondary remedy in
their cases, and the results have been generally very
favorable to the agent as a restorative and invigorating
tonic.

156 MINERAL WATERS OE VIRGINIA.

It is not only as a primary and independent remedy
that these waters are valuable. In various diseases of
the abdominal viscera, and other affections, in which
the primary use of thennal and strong alterative sulphur
waters is required, and is essential to the cure of the
case as a first remedy, the subsequent use of these waters,
to finish up the case by restoring the wasted energies
of the system long debilitated by disease, is often a
matter of the greatest consequence to the patient.

The accommodations at this place have recently been
much enlarged, and are now sufficient for the entertain-
ment of four or five hundred persons.

The Rawley Springs are reached in one day from
Baltimore, by way of the Manassas Gap Railroad to
Harrisonburg, or by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
via Winchester. The Southern and Western traveler
may reach them conveniently from Staunton.

MASSANETTA SPRINGS,

formerly known as '^Taylor' s,^'' are in the county of
Rockingham, near the Peaks of Massanetta Mountain,
and four or five miles east of Harrisonburg.

These springs have been long known as possessing
medicinal virtues, and especially for dyspeptic deprav-
ities, and for the cure of agues of long standing, and
other chronic malarial influences.

The waters are believed to be alkaline, and strongly
magnesian. Prof. Rogers, upon a qualitative examina-
tion, reports them to contain chlorine, iron, arsenic,
potassium, sodium, lime, iodine, and magnesia.

While the medicinal effects of these waters have not
as. yet been sufficiently tested to make for them a reli-
able and extensive therapeutic record, they have, never-
theless, so decidedly evinced curative powers as to
cause them to be favorably regarded among the mineral
waters of the country.

The proprietors of these springs are preparing to

JORDAN'S WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS. 157

open them more extensively for public use than hereto-
fore.

JORDAN'S WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

These springs are in Frederick County, Virginia,
five miles from the town of Winchester, and one and a
half from Stephenson's Depot, a point on the Win-
chester and Harper's Ferry Railroad. They are situ-
ated in a small valley, surrounded by hills of no great
altitude. The earth in the vicinity of the springs is
blended with slate, very porous, and readily absorbs all
the water that falls upon it. Hence it is as remark-
able for its dryness as is the neighborhood for its ex-
emption from vapors and fogs. The grounds about
the springs are well covered with grass, are sufficiently
extensive for pleasant promenades, and, withal, are
shaded by a variety of ornamental trees.

The spring, although not one of great boldness, af-
fords in abundance a mild, pleasant sulphur water, of
the temperature of 57° Fahr., which is said not to be
influenced either in quantity or temperature by wet or
dry, hot or cold, weather.

The fountain is inclosed by marble slabs, and shaded
by an octagonal structure, supported by large pillars.

These waters have never been analyzed, though they
will probably be found, judging from the geological
position of the fountain, as well as from the sensible
properties of the water itself, to contain less lime than
many of our sulphur waters, and, therefore, more free
from the harsh ingredients imparted by the sulphate
and carbonate of that mineral; while they hold in
solution the other components usually found in our
sulphur waters. If this suggestion be correct, it points
them out as peculiarly valuable in gravel and the
various chronic diseases of the kidneys, bladder, and
urethra.

Medicinally, the water acts as a diuretic and slight
aperient. As an alterative, it is found to be valuable

14*

158 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

in the various forms of chronic disease in which sulphur
waters are commonly beneficial. Among other dis-
eases, dyspepsia and the various gastric derangements
have derived benefit from its use. The same may be
said of liver disease, hemorrhoids , disease of the skin,
and rheumatis7n, especially when it proceeds from the
use of mercury. Several gentleman have borne very
decided testimony to the superior efficacy of these
waters in gout, and their unirritating quality would seem
to point them out as a valuable remedy in that disease.
Physicians of eminence, long familiar with the use of
this water, speak in high terms of its efficacy \n jaundice,
and in the functional derangements of the abdo7ninal
viscera generally ; also in the various chronic affec-
tions of the skin ; in chronic irritation of the kidneys
and bladder; in gleet, and especially in female sup-
pressions, unattended with acute symptoms.

K

CHAPTER XX.

BATH OR BERKELEY SPRINGS.

Early History — Baths and Bathing-Houses — Medical Properties of
the Waters — Diseases for which used, etc. — Capon Springs.

The Berkeley Springs are situated in the town of
Bath, Morgan County, West Virginia, two miles and a
half from Sir John's Depot, a point on the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad one hundred and thirty miles west
of Baltimore and forty-nine miles east of Cumberland.

These springs were resorted to by invalids at a very
early period, and had great celebrity throughout the
Colonies. Hundreds annually flocked thither from all
quarters, and traditional accounts of the accommoda-
tions and amusements of those primitive times are calcu-
lated to excite both the mirth and envy of the present
age. Rude log huts, board and canvas tents, and even
covered wagons, served as lodging-rooms, while every
party brought its own substantial provisions of flour,
meat, and bacon, depending for lighter articles of diet
on the "Hill folk," or the success of their own fora-
gers. A large hollow scooped in the sand, surrounded
by a screen of pine brush, was the only bathing-house ;
and this was used alternately by ladies and gentlemen.
The time set apart for the ladies was announced by a
blast on a long tin horn, at which signal all of the op-
posite sex retired to a prescribed distance, and woe to
any unlucky wight who might be found within the
magic circle !

The whole scene is said to have resembled a camp-

(159)

l6o MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

meeting in appearance ; but only in appearance. Here
day and night passed in a round of eating and drink-
ing, bathing, fiddling, dancing, and reveling. Gaming
was carried to a great excess, and horse-racing was a
daily amusement.

Such were the primitive accommodations at the first
watering-place that was opened in Virginia, and such
the recreations and amusements of our forefathers,
about the eventful period that ushered us as a nation
into the world.

Berkeley has now extensive and convenient improve-
ments, and a summer registry of from twelve to fifteen
hundred visitors.

Although these waters possess considerable medical
virtues when taken internally, they have been most
celebrated as a bath ; their pleasant thermal tempera-
ture, from 72° to 74° Fahr,, in connection with other
properties, adapting them, as such, to a wide range of
diseases. They have never been accurately analyzed,
but the presence of purgative and diuretic salts has
been ascertained, though the impregnation is not strong
and the amount is uncertain.

Internal Use. — This water is tasteless, insipid from
its warmth, and so light in its character that very
large quantities may be taken on the stomach without
producing oppression or uneasiness. Persons generally
become fond of it after a time ; and when cooled it is
a delightful beverage. It is beneficial in several of the
chronic and subacute disorders, such as derangements
of the stomach, with impaired appetite and feeble di-
gestion unconnected with any considerable degree of
organic disease. Its salutary effects in these cases would
seem to depend upon the exceedingly light character
of the waters and their gentle alkaline properties, neu-
tralizing acidity and invigorating and soothing the
viscera.

In the early stages of calculous diseases, attended with

CAPON SPRINGS. i6i

irritable bladder, their free use internally and exter-
nally is frequently of benefit.

External Use. — Externally used, these waters are
beneficial in the whole class of nervous disorders that
are disconnected with a full plethoric habit, extreme
debility, or severe organic derangements.

In cases of relaxed habit and debility, where suffi-
cient power of reaction exists in the system, the tonic
and bracing influences of plunges in this water will be
very invigorating.

Persons suffering from a residence in a warm, low,
and damp climate, and subject to nervous affections,
will be benefited by the use of the baths.

To the various chronic affections of the mucous mem-
branes, especially leucorrhoea, gleet, etc., as well as to
that peculiar form of bronchitis which depends upon a
relaxed condition of the membranes, with general want
of tone in the nervous system, the water and baths are
highly beneficial. The same may be said as to local
paralytic affections, if unconnected with congestion of
the brain, or cerebral tendencies.

In mildly chronic or subacute rheumatism, the bath
has long enjoyed a high reputation. Many intelligent
persons who have long been familiar with its use, place
great reliance on it in this class of cases.

CAPON SPRINGS.

At the western base of the North Mountain, in the
county of Hampshire, seventeen miles east of Romney,
and twenty-two northwest of Winchester, whence they
may be reached by a well-graded but mountainous road,
are the Capon Springs. They are situated in a narrow
vale not far distant from the Capon River, and sur-
rounded by a rugged and romantic mountain scenery,
perhaps unsurpassed in trossach wildness by any in Vir-
ginia. The region is high and healthy, and the sources

1 62 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

of amusement (often of consequence to the invalid),
and especially those of trout and river fishing, together
with the excitement of the mountain chase, are unsur-
passed at any of our watering-places.

The improvements at Capon are extensive, affording
accommodation for about seven hundred and fifty per-
sons.

The bathing establishment here is well designed and
handsome, affording twenty bathing-rooms for gentle-
men and seventeen for ladies, with comfortable parlors
for the use of the bathers. The baths are made of brick,
coated with hydraulic cement. Shower and douche
baths, and artificial warm baths, are also supplied.

The spring affords about one hundred gallons of
water per minute. The temperature of the water as it
flows from the fountain is 66° Fahr. ; in the reservoir
that supplies the baths, about 64°.

The water is essentially tasteless and inodorous. Ex-
cept in its thermal character, it cannot be compared to
that of any of the springs in our great spring region.
It more resembles the waters of the Berkeley than any
of our other springs. As a bath and a beverage, it
will, when properly directed, be found very useful in a
wide range of diseases, especially in idiopathic affec-
tions of the nervous system, dyspeptic depravities, chronic
derangement of the mucous surfaces, etc. It has ac-
quired reputation, and I believe justly, as a remedy in
gravel z.uA other derangements of the urinary organs.
It is a valuable water, and is destined to increase in
favor with the spring-going public.

The Capon waters have been analyzed by Dr. Charles
Carter, of Philadelphia, and their principal medicinal
ingredients ascertained to be —

Silicic acid,

Magnesia,

Soda,

Bromine,

Carbonic acid gas.

Iodine.

CHAPTER XXI.

Coiner's Black and White Sulphur — Roanoke Red Sulphur — John-
son's Springs — Blue Ridge Springs — Alleghany Springs — Mont-
gomery White Sulphur Springs.

COINER'S WHITE AND BLACK SULPHUR SPRINGS.

These springs are situated at the western base of the
Blue Ridge Mountain, on the line between the coun-
ties of Botetourt and Roanoke, on the borders of one
of the most delightful and fertile regions of Virginia.
They are immediately on the line of the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad, and within a mile of Bonsack's
Depot, fifty miles west from Lynchburg.

These springs, as a public resort, are a product of
the recent rapid spring development in Virginia, having
been brought into public notice within the last fifteen
years.

My personal observation of their effects in health and
disease is too limited to enable me to speak positively
of their medicinal peculiarities or powers, and, in the
absence of an analysis, prudence restricts me from con-
sidering their therapeutic character, except in the light
of analogy, and from the experience of their use by a
few gentlemen who seem to be well qualified to judge
of their powers. From such light, I believe these
waters will be found a safe and beneficial remedy in a
large class of cases usually successfully treated by the
mild sulphur waters that exist in the same general geo-
logical region.

1 64 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

ROANOKE RED SULPHUR SPRING.

This is one of the new places of valetudinary and
pleasure resorts which the recent ardor for spring im-
provement has brought to the public view.

It is situated in the county of Roanoke, on the road
from the town of Salem to the Sweet Springs, ten miles
from the former, and about forty from the latter place.

It is called Red Sulphur from the color of its de-
posits, and from its supposed resemblance, as a medici-
nal agent, to the old Red Sulphur in the county of
Monroe.

The waters of this fountain have not been analyzed,
nor have they as yet so far made out their medical
record of applicabilities and cures as to enable me to
speak of them with such particularity as I could desire.

They are mild and pleasant sulphurous waters, and
no doubt will be found well adapted to a numerous
class of cases successfully treated by such waters.

JOHNSON'S SPRINGS,

now better known as Hollins' s Institute, are in Roanoke
County, eight miles east of Salem. They are mild and
pleasant sulphur waters. I find these springs, by a
qualitative analysis, to contain twenty-eight grains of
solid matter to the Imperial gallon, consisting of the
sulphates of soda and magnesia, with the chlorides of
calcium and sodium.

This property is extensively and handsomely im-
proved, and, except during the summer months, is
occupied as a female seminary.

THE BLUE RIDGE SPRING

is in the county of Botetourt, and immediately on the
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, seventeen miles east
of Salem. The water of this spring is strongly saline

ALLEGHANY SPRINGS.

165

in character, and very much resembles, both in its
composition and its medicinal effects, the water of the
Alleghany Springs in the county of Montgomery.

ALLEGHANY SPRINGS.

Alleghany Springs are on the south fork of Roanoke
River, in the county of Montgomery, three miles south
of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, at
Shawsville.

In the nomenclature of mineral waters, they properly
belong to the class known as saline. In local situa-
tion, they occupy a central position, geographically
and geologically, of the great mineral range extending
from Harper's Ferry in the north, to the Chilhowee
Mountains in the south. All along this entire range
this class of waters \% found; varying somewhat in their
ingredients, but all essentially belonging to the same
general class. Nor is this valuable class of waters found
in any other portion of our continent in the same
abundance and purity.

The springs that represent the extremes of this ex-
tensive geological range are the Montvale, in Blount
County, Tennessee, and the Shan?i07tdale , in Jeffer-
son County, West Virginia, more than four hundred
and fifty miles apart. In the intermediate space be-
tween these extremes, evidences are afforded in various
places along the mountains of the existence of similar
waters ; but their existence in purity and in sufficient
quantity for general use has only been demonstrated
and brought before the public in the springs of " Shan-
nondale, ' ' ' 'Blue Ridge, " " Yellow, "and ' 'Alleghany, ' '
in Virginia, and " Tate's'" and "■Montvale,'' in Ten-
nessee.

In the class of saline waters are comprised those
springs that contain a sufficient amount of neutral salts
to occasion the marked effects of such agents, and
especially purgative operations.

15

1 66 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

Such waters exert but an inconsiderable effect upon
the sanguiferous and nervous systems, their efficacy
mainly depending on their laxative and purgative
operations, by which the alimentary canal is excited
to copious secretions, and the secretory functions of
the liver and pancreas are stimulated to pour out their
appropriate fluids ; besides, like other mineral waters,
they are absorbed, and conveyed through the whole
course of the circulation, and are applied in their
medical efficacy to the capillary tissues and glandular
organs. The sympathy between the digestive canal,
upon which they operate primarily, and all the other
organs of the body, prepares us for witnessing the
happy effects which they often exert upon the latter
organs by their direct effects upon the former.

Where no considerable irritation or inflammation
exists in the mucous membrane of the stomach and
bowels, saline mineral waters will be found valuable
in relieving congestion or irritation of distant organs :
first, by copious evacuation of fluids ; and second, by
derivation of blood from them to the superficies of the
portal system.* Affections of the head, chest, skin, and
joints will often be greatly benefited by their prudent
use.

From the absorption of saline matters contained in
such waters, and possibly from the force of sympathy
from other organs, the secretions of the kidneys and
skiti are commonly much increased. Such results,
often highly beneficial, generally ensue from doses
falling short of the quantity usually taken to produce
active purging.

The waters of the Alleghany Springs, like all waters
of the saline class, purge mildly or actively, in propor-
tion to the quantity drunk and the peristaltic excita-
bility of the bowels. Simply as a purgative, they are
very superior in many chronic diseases to the drugs
ordinarily used for this purpose, and principally in

» Bell.

ALLEGHANY SPRINGS.

167

this, that the invalid can keep up their action upon
the bowels for a number of days without suffering that
debility of the constitution and loss of appetite which
so constantly occur from a similar course of the ordi-
nary purging drugs.

In small and aperient doses, they often act most
beneficially on the functions of the skin and kidneys,
and especially if the warm bath and gentle exercise be
connected with their use. Administered in the same
way, we sometimes witness very pleasant influences
from these waters upon the mucous surfaces, as well as
upon the serous, synovial, and fibrous membranes.
Such results are sometimes witnessed in chronic ca-
tarrh, rheumatic affections of the joints, etc.

The Alleghany water has been analyzed by Dr. F. A.
Genth, of Philadelphia. He found one gallon, 70,000
grains, to contain —

Sulphate of magnesia 50.884290 grains.

Sulphate of lime 115.294022 "

Sulphate of soda I-.7I7959 "

Sulphate of potassa 3.699081 "

Carbonate of copper 0.000359 "

Carbonate of lead 0.000569 "

Carbonateof zinc 0.001713 "

Carbonate of iron .\ 0.157049 "

Carbonate of manganese 0.060617 "

Carbonate of lime 3.613209 "

Carbonate of magnesia 0.362362 "

Carbonate of strontia 0.060536 "

Carbonate of baryta 0.022404 "

Carbonate of lithia 0.001679 "

Nitrate of magnesia 3.219562 "

Nitrate of ammonia 0.559412 "

Phosphate of alumina 0.025549 "

Silicate of alumina 0.207399 "

Fluoride of calcium 0.022858 "

Chloride of sodium 0.274676 "

Silicic acid 0.882782 "

Crenic acid 0.001921 "

Apocrenic acid 0.000192 "

Other organic matter i. 9991 21

Carbonate of cobalt

Teroxide of antimony

V traces.

183.069321

1 68 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

Solid ingredients by direct' evaporation gave ...184.072000 grains.

Half-combined carbonic acid 1.885526 "

Free carbonic acid 5.455726 "

Hydro-sulphuric acid 0.001339 "

Total amount of ingredients 190.411912 "

The mediciftal efects of these waters are mildly laxa-
tive or actively purging, in proportion to the quantity
drunk and the excitability of the bowels.

Simply as a purgative, they are vastly superior in
chronic disease to the ordinary drugs of the apothecary :
principally in this, that the invalid may keep up their
action upon the bowels for a number of days without
suffering that general debility or loss of appetite which
so constantly occurs from a similar course of the ordi-
nary purging medicines.

In small or aperient doses they act kindly and bene-
ficially upon the kidneys and skin, and especially when
gentle exercise is connected with their use.

Administered in the same guarded way, they exert
a happy influence upon the mucous surfaces, as well as
upon the serous, synovial, and fibrous mejnbranes.
Such influences are witnessed in chronic catarrh, mu-
cous diarrhoea, rheumatic affections of the joints, etc.

They both primarily and secondarily exert favor-
able influences upon the glandular secretions. This is
sometimes marked in the relief they afford in jaun-
dice and other diseases of the glandular structures.

In dyspepsia they have acquired a more established
reputation, perhaps, than in any other form of disease,
mainly, we presume, from the fact that they have been
more extensively employed in this than in any other
single form of disease.

Dyspepsia is multiform, both in its causes and its
pathology, and hence no one remedy is equally well
adapted to all its forms and phases. But as a gen-
eral remedy, adapted to meet the general want in the
various dyspeptic depravities, this water occupies a de-

ALLEGHANY SPRINGS. 169

cidedly high position among the most valued remedies
in such cases.

I by no means intend to assert that this or any other
mineral water, or any article of the apothecary, is an
infallible remedy in all dyspeptic cases ; such a position
would be alike extravagant and uncandid. But T fully
indorse the truthful results of experience, that such
waters are among our best remedies in all such cases ;
always safe when prudently used, and often effective
where the usual remedies of the profession have failed.

If called upon to say in what particular form of
dyspepsia these waters may be most relied upon, I
would say in cases attended with mucous secretions,
and which often develop alarming palpitations and
other unpleasant neuralgic affections. But I by no
means regard their efficacy in dyspepsia as limited to
such cases.

In chronic mucous diarrhoea, alike common and fatal
in our southern latitudes, the prudent use of this water
is eminently proper. In all cases of this kind the
water should be used in small and frequently repeated
doses, and its influence upon the secreting surfaces
encouraged by the occasional use of a warm bath when
such an adjunct can be commanded. A departure from
this rule of prudence as to the quantity of the water to
be used, would cause it rather to aggravate than benefit
the case.

In disorders of the kidneys, threatening calculous
deposits, these waters may be looked to as a hopeful
source of relief. Their efficacy in such cases may be
attributed mainly to the alterative changes they effect
in the blood and upon the secretory and absorbing
functions, and to their increasing the flow of urine,
thus giving an easier passage to the extraneous matter,
which, when long retained, proves painful and injurious.

These springs may be conveniently reached from the
East or South by railroad, by way of Lynchburg ; or
from the Southwest by way of Knoxville.
15*

lyo MINERAL WATERS OE VIRGINIA.

The improvements at the Alleghany are extensive
and comfortable, affording accommodation for five or
six hundred visitors.

MONTGOMERY WHITE SULPHUR.

The Mofitgomery White Sulphur are springs of some-
what recent discovery and improvement. They are
situated on the southern slope of the Alleghany Moun-
tain, in the county of Montgomery, a few miles east
of the town of Christiansburg, and at a short distance
from the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, from
which to the springs a branch railroad has been con-
structed by the owners of the springs.

Persons visiting this place leave the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad at the Spring Depot, on the slope
of the Alleghany, and take the company's railroad, on
which, in a few minutes, they are conducted to their
destination.

These springs are extensively and conveniently im-
proved, and favorably situated for cool and pleasant
summer residence. The waters, being distinctly sul-
phurous in character, and withal a bland and pleasant
beverage, will be found adapted to a large number of
chronic affections that are known to be advantageously
treated by sulphur waters generally. They are some-
what less cathartic, and also less stimulant, than many
sulphur waters, and hence may be used with more free-
dom and with greater safety than such waters, by deli-
cate and excitable persons.

CHAPTER XXII.

Yellow Sulphur Springs — Pulaski Alum Spring — Grayson Sulphur
Springs— Holston Springs.

YELLOW SULPHUR SPRINGS.

These springs are pleasantly situated in an elevated
and picturesque part of the county of Montgomery,
and are surrounded by variegated and interesting
scenery and a productive and prosperous agricultural
country. They are three and a half miles from the
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, at Christians-
burg Depot, from which they may be reached on a well-
graded road.

The spring rises on the east side of the Alleghany,
and not more than sixty feet below the summit level of
that mountain, and its waters flow into the North fork
of the Roanoke, which is two miles distant. In con-
sequence of the great altitude of the spring, the climate
in which it is situated is very salubrious, the air being
elastic, pure, and invigorating during the hottest days
of summer. The water is clear, transparent, and very
cool, its temperature being about 55° Fahrenheit.

The spring is very bold, yielding 3600 gallons a day,
sufficient to furnish an abundance of water for warm
atid hot baths, a means of using the water highly ad-
vantageous to many invalid visitors. In running over
rough channels, as well as on the bottom and sides of
the spring inclosure, it deposits a brownish-yellow sedi-
ment ; a bluish sediment is also occasionally observed,
supposed to be ^.prussiate of iron. After standing in
an open vessel for some twelve or fifteen hours, it loses
its styptic taste, becomes flat, and deposits a small
quantity of its characteristic sediment.

(171)

172

MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

The improvements at the Yellow Sulphur Springs
are very comfortable ; the buildings are pleasantly ar-
ranged, and combine elegance with convenience. Many
of the rooms, as well as the spring and the pleasure-
grounds, are delightfully shaded by magnificent forest
trees.

Under the name of " Taylor's Springs," or " Yellow
Sulphur Springs," this watering-place "has been well
known and much visited by invalids, for nearly seventy
years. As early as i8to it attracted considerable atten-
tion, and had numerous visitors, especially from East-
ern Virginia and North Carolina.

In 1855 it was analyzed by Prof. Gilham, who says
he finds one gallon to contain —

Carbonate of lime 8.642 grains.

Carbonate of magnesia 1-389

Carbonate of protoxide of iron 0.617

Free carbonic acid 4.680

Sulphate of lime 65.302

Sulphate of magnesia 21.098

Sulphate of alumina 3-176

Sulphate of potash 0.107

Sulphate of soda o-7So

Protoxide of iron traces.

Phosphate of lime 0.015

Phosphate of magnesia o.oii

Chloride of potassium 0.097

Chloride of sodium 0.076

Organic extractive matter 3-733

While this water is decidedly /t'wV, diuretic, and mildly
purgative in its action, its peculiar composition gives
it also decided alterative qualities, to the sanative in-
fluences of which, many of its best effects are to be
attributed.

From seven to eight tumblers, taken at intervals,
will usually create a mild cathartic effect ; as a diuretic
it is active ; but its evident range of usefulness will be
found in its valuable tonic and alterative properties.
As a beverage it lies lightly and comfortably upon the
stomach, when drunk even in large quantities. With

YELLOW SULPHUR SPRINGS.

173

many persons, especially on commencing its use, it
occasions slight excitation both of the physical and
mental system, evidenced by a flushing of the face, a
pleasant glow over the body, some increase of the fre-
quency of the pulse, and of the animal spirits.

The alterative effects of the water are more certainly
obtained by taking it in moderately small, rather than
in large, quantities, at each period of drinking; — in
quantities that will not provoke very decided operations
either upon the bowels or kidneys.

Its tendency to increase the appetite and promote
digestion is very uniform.

In dyspepsia, the water has sometimes produced highly
beneficial effects.

In that class oi female (r^;«//«/V//j- demanding the use
of tonics, it is an efficacious remedy, and has often
proved successful.

In diseases of the skin, especially in the various
forms of herpes, it is said to display highly curative
powers.

In old ulcers it has been found beneficial ; obstinate
cases of many years' standing have been successfully
treated by the water, used both externally and inter-
nally, that had for years resisted the efforts of surgery.

In chronic diarrhcea it is much relied upon by those
who have had most experience in its use. Doctors
Edie, Wade, Black, and other intelligent physicians
residing in the neighborhood of the springs, and who
have often prescribed the water in this class of cases,
commend it very highly.

In general debility, connected with nervous prostra-
tion, and unattended with serious visceral obstructions,
it will always be found a valuable remedy.

Extensive improvements are now in progress at these
springs, and among others a large and commodious
hotel, which, when completed, will greatly increase their
capacity for accommodating company, as well as the
comfort of visitors. Such increase of accommodation

174

MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

had become a necessity inconsequence of the immense
visitation to the place within the last five years.

The altitude of these sprmgs, — upwards of 2000 feet
above the sea-level, — the cool and invigorating sum-
mer climate with which they are blessed, and especially
their well-tested and valuable tonic and alterative water,
adapted, as long use of it has shown, to a wide circle
of diseases, must always render them a very pleasant
and advantageous summer resort, and fully justify the
enterprise of the proprietors in making large additional
improvements.

PULASKI ALUM SPRING.

This spring is situated in the northwest portion of
the county of Pulaski, ten miles from Dublin Depot,
on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad.

This water has not been analyzed, but it very much
resembles, both in its sensible qualities and its medi-
cinal operations, the water of the Rockbridge Alum.
It enjoys a high reputation in its neighborhood as a
remedy for scrofula, cutaneous diseases, and other
affections for which the alum waters of Rockbridge
have become celebrated.

GRAYSON SULPHUR SPRINGS.

The Grayson Sulphur Springs are on the west side of
the Blue Ridge, in the county of Carroll, twenty miles
south of Wytheville. They rise on the banks of New
River, in the midst of scenery remarkable for its wild-
ness and grandeur, — in a region as salubrious and in-
vigorating as any in our country.

These waters are decidedly sulphurous, and have been
found useful in dyspeptic depravities, and the various
chronic derangements of the chylopoetic viscera. Their
earliest reputation, which has been well maintained, was
in the cure of rheumatism. For all chronic diseases of

HOLS TON SPRINGS.

175

the skin, especially for sa/t rheum, herpes, and tetters,
they will be found efficacious ; for chronic forms of
liver disease they are well adapted ; and I am informed
by highly respectable medical authorities that they have
' displayed the happiest effects in numerous cases of
amenorrhoea, and in chlorotic conditions of the female
system.

There is, quite near the Sulphur Spring, a good
chalybeate, which may be used to advantage in many
cases ; and in nervous affections and female diseases
it will be beneficial to drink it moderately, in connec-
tion with the sulphur water.

The Grayson waters have been analyzed by Professor
Rogers. He shows that in a given quantity of their
solid contents there are found —

Soda 4 grains.

Carbonate of magnesia 3 "

Carbonate of lime 8 "

Sulphate of lime 2 "

Sulphate of magnesia 3 "

Chloride of sodium 2 "

Chloride of calcium 3 "

Chloride of magnesium if "

Sulphate of soda 4J "

Sulphuretted hydrogen and carbonic acid abound in
the water.

HOLSTON SPRINGS.

The Holston Springs are in the county of Scott, in
the extreme southwestern angle of the State, near the
Tennessee line, forty miles from Abington, and thirty
east of Rogersville, Tennessee. They are on the bank
of the North fork of the Holston River, in a wild and
romantic region of country.

One of these springs comes within the thermal range,
being 68.5° Fahr., or about fifteen degrees higher than
the common springs of the surrounding country. Of
the saline contents of the water, the most abundant are

176

MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

sulphates of lime and magnesia, and the carbonate of
lime, chloride of sodium, muriate of alumina, sulphate of
soda ; phosphate and sulphate of alumina are found in
smaller proportions. It is actively diuretic, and, under
favorable circumstances, determining to the skin by mild
diaphoresis ; with many it is mildly purgative.

The water of the Holston Springs was analyzed in
1842, by Professor Hayden, who reports that he found
one wine gallon of the water to contain 41.14 grains
of saline matter, consisting of chloride of sodium,
sulphate of lime, sulphate of soda, sulphate of mag-
nesia, and carbonate of lime, with traces of alumina.

KIMBERLING SPRINGS.

The Kimberling Springs are a series of medicated
fountains in the county of Bland, Virginia, twenty-six
miles from Wytheville.

Some of this group of springs have been chemically
examined by Dr. Tuttle, of the University of Virginia,
with the following results :

" The first water examined was strongly impregnated
with alujn, and was found to be free from copperas and
other deleterious ingredients. A partial analysis showed
this water to contain in an Imperial gallon —

Sulphate of alumina 83.069 grains.

Sulphate of lime I7-Si4 "

Sulphate of magnesia 14.014 "

"The waters from the Sulphur Springs are as yet di-
luted by admixture of fresh water from other springs in
the immediate vicinity. When access from these shall
have been cut off, the strength of the mineral waters
will, of course, be increased.

"The mineral contents of an Imperial gallon of the
Red Sulphur were found to be as" follows :

Sulphuretted hydrogen (some loss having occurred

in transportation) I737 grains.

Sulphate of lime 2.3169 "

Carbonate of magnesia 1.62 "

Carbonate of lime 7238 "

HOLSTON SPRINGS.

177

Chloride of sodium 4229 grains.

Carbonate of soda 6.208 "

Carbonate of potassa 750 "

Silica 6733 "

Organic matter 2.160 "

A trace of iron.

14.8749 "
A gallon of water yielded, on evaporation, a resi-
due of 14.607 grains.

"The Blue Sulphur water was found, on a partial
examination, to be very similar in composition and in
strength to the Red Sulphur water, an analysis of which
is given above."

These waters are favorably spoken of by Dr. A. J.
Nye and other persons in the neighborhood of the
springs, who have had some experience in their use.

16

CHAPTER XXIII.

Fauquier White Sulphur Springs — Buffalo Springs — Huguenot Springs
— New London Alum Springs.

FAUQUIER WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

The Fatiquier White Sulphur Springs are in the
county of Fauquier, fifty-six miles from Washington,
and forty from Fredericksburg.

According to analysis, the water is impregnated with
sulphate of magnesia, phosphate of soda, and sulphu-
retted hydrogen. Its temperature is 56° Fahrenheit,
io}^° Reaumur. It has a strong sulphuric smell, and,
the taste being not unlike the odor arising from the
yolk of a hard-boiled egg, is not, perhaps, at first very
agreeable to the palate of a gourmand. It operates
purgatively a.n6. diuretically ; the cuticular pores being
opened, and perspiration, especially if the weather be
warm, flows easily and copiously.

This property was beautifully and extensively im-
proved before the war, and had for many years been a
place of large and fashionable resort.

During the war nearly all the buildings were burned,
but doubtless arrangements will ere long be made by
which this heretofore delightful place will be put in
a condition to meet the wants of the spring-going
public.

BUFFALO SPRINGS.

The Buffalo Springs are situated in the county of
Mecklenburg, a few miles south of Dan River, and seven
west of the town of Clarksville.
(178)

BUFFALO SPRINGS. lyp

The analysis of the water shows it to be a sulphated
chalybeate. Its temperature, as it flows from the earth,
is 60° Fahr. Its specilic gravity is 1.058.

The solid contents obtained by evaporating one wine
gallon of the water are found to consist of —

Sulphate of magnesia 8 grains.

Sulphate of lime 3.5 "

Sulphate of protoxide of iron 2.6 "

Chloride of sodium a trace.

Chloride of magnesium a trace.

Sulphate of soda 1.3 grains.

Sulphuretted hydrogen gas 0.54080 grains.

Total of solid and gaseous contents 15.94080 "

The first effects produced by drinking the water are
a flushed face, a quickened pulse, and some giddiness
of the head. These symptoms soon pass ofl", however,
and are followed by an increase of appetite, a health-
ful glow on the surface, with more or less perspiration.
Active diuresis sometimes supervenes, and continues as
long as the water is used. Occasionally some slight
purging takes place for the first day or two, but, unless
the mucous membrane of the bowels was previously in-
flamed, or very irritable, the protracted use of the water
is attended with constipation.

The water is stimulant, and, of course, contra-indi-
cated in all diseases of an acute inflammatory charac-
ter; as, likewise, in all cases of hemorrhage of the
lungs, or acute diseases of the bronchial tubes. As a
mere tonic, however, it is not wholly inadmissible in
chronic affections of the chest ; but it should never be
resorted to without satisfactory evidence of the absence
of tuberculous disease of that cavity.

The principal morbid states to which it seems to be
well adapted are dropsical affections, visceral obstruc-
tions, protracted intermittent zxid remittent fevers, chronic
diseases of the skin, dyspepsia, convalescence from fevers

l8o MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

of every grade and ty^t, female complaints, and almost
every disease of the pelvic organs in both sexes.

The happy blending of totiic and alterative powers
in these waters constitutes them a valuable remedy in
a comprehensive class of cases in which these two im-
portant influences are demanded for the restoration of
health.

In the sallow or jaundiced condition of the skin
common to denizens of warm miasmatic districts, and
always connected with hepatic derangements of some
sort, these waters will be used with excellent success.
In the milder obstructions of the liver, spleen, and kid-
neys, as well as in obstructions in the lesser glands of the
system, and in paucity or poverty of the blood, their
employment will be valuable. We should look also for
highly beneficial results from the judicious use of the
waters in chronic irritation of the mucous coat of the
bowels, bladder, or urethra, as well as in that wretched
form of disease technically known as spermatorrhea, a
legitimate and not unfrequent result of youthful im-
proprieties.

HUGUENOT SPRINGS.

This watering-place is in Powhatan County, seven-
teen miles above Richmond. It is near the centre of
a tract of land granted by the British crown to a body
of Protestant refugees driven from France by the repeal
of the edict of Nantes, in 1685. Hence its name.

There are two springs here, one mildly sulphurous,
the other chalybeate. The first was analyzed by Pro-
fessor Rogers, who ascertained that it contained the
ingredients usually found in the sulphur waters of the
country, but in small proportions. The other spring
was analyzed by Professor Maupin, who pronounced it
a mild and pure chalybeate.

In additiort to these medicated springs, there is z-well
from which is obtained a water strongly tinctured both
with sulphur and iron. This is used, not only for drink-

NEW LONDON ALUM SPRING. i8i

ing, but for bathing, its medicinal properties when thus
employed being considered valuable.

NEW LONDON ALUM SPRING.

For a number of years it has been known that alum
is a constituent part of a rock that is found in large
masses near the town of New London, in the county
of Campbell, ten miles southwest of Lynchburg. An
excavation made several years ago into the ground,
penetrating this rock, but with no view of obtaining
alum water, the virtues of which were not then appre-
ciated, has, from the percolation of the water through
the layers of rock, afforded an alum of sufficient purity
to be used by the good housewives of the vicinity for
" setting their dyes."

The medical reputation acquired within the last few
years by the alum waters of Rockbridge, induced the
proprietor of this rock to sink a shaft or well into it,
with the hope of obtaining alum water in sufficient
quantity to be used for medicinal purposes. His enter-
prise was crowned with entire success. On penetrating
the rock to the depth of sixteen feet, he came to several
percolations of water, furnishing a sufficient amount to
induce him to suspend further operations and to cut an
entrance into the basin, or spring, after the manner
of ancient wells, and of sufficient size to admit of easy
ingress and egress to and from the fountain.

Three or four glasses a day of this water will operate
gently upon the bowels of some persons ; it decidedly
promotes the secretion of the kidneys ; but its leading
operation is that of a generous tonic and astringent to
the animal fibre, increasing the appetite and strengthen-
ing the general system.

It has been analyzed by Professor Gilham with the
following results :

"A gallon of water furnished the following mineral
constituents :

1 6*

l82 MINERAL WATERS OF VIRGINIA.

Sulphate of magnesia 12.664 grains to the gal.

Sulphate of protoxide of iron 23.456 "

Sulphate of alumina 7.240 "

Sulphate of lime 18.672 "

Sulphate of potassa 10.160 "

And, in addition, we have oi free or uncombined sulphuric acid,
19.976 grains.

Between the analysis of this water and the alum
waters of Bath and Rockbridge, whose reputation and
adaptations are now pretty well established, there is a
similarity, in several respects, so striking as to induce
the belief that they are suited to the same general range
of disease.

The intelligent physician, acquainted with the pecu-
liar action of the alum waters, and looking to the
leading indications afforded by the analysis of this,
will not fail to perceive that it is pointed out as a
valuable remedy in a large circle of- cases that require
an alterative tonic treatment: It will be found valuable
in scrofula and in the various forms of salt rheum, as
such waters invariably are ; while its good effects in
chlorosis, and other female affections unattended with
febrile action, may be looked to, we would think, with
decided confidence.

In ancemic and other conditions of the system de-
manding the use of tonic remedies, this water may be
used with excellent effect. In cutaneous and ulcera-
tive affections, in primary nervous diseases, in pro-
fluvia, and passive hemorrhages, it will be found well
adapted.

[

CHAPTER XXIV.

SPRINGS OF ICENTUCKY.*

Harrodsburg Springs — Rochester Spring — Olympian Springs — Blue
Lick Springs — Estill Springs.

HARRODSBURG SPRINGS.

Harrodsburg Springs are situated near the source
of Salt River, and in the immediate suburbs of the
town of Harrodsburg. They have been extensively
and handsomely improved, and, in the language of Dr.
Drake, will in this respect "compare advantageously
with any to be found in America or Europe."

Dr. Raymond's analysis shows that one pint of the
water of the Grenville Spring contains —

Carbonate of magnesia 2.87 grains.

Bicarbonate of lime 0.86 "

Sulphate of magnesia (crystallized) 16.16 "

Sulphate of lime (crystallized) 11.06 "

Chloride of sodium , a trace.

30-95

One pint of the Saloon or. Chalybeate Spring
contains —

Bicarbonate of magnesia 0.43 grains.

Bicarbonate of lime 4.31

Bicarbonate of iron 0.50

Sulphate of magnesia (crystallized) 27.92

Sulphate of lime (crystallized) 10.24

Chloride of sodium 1.24

44.60

* To Dr. Drake, who was one of the brightest philosophical lights
of the profession in America, we are principally indebted for our
knowledge of the Springs of Kentucky.

C183)

1 84 SPRINGS OF KENTUCKY.

Dr. Raymond could not detect either free carbonic
acid or sulphuretted hydrogen gas.

The water of the Grenville SpHng is the better ant-
acid,— that of Saloon the better tonic. Indeed, small
as the quantity of iron is, it sometimes produces an
uncomfortable feeling in the head, which is relieved
by drinking at the other fountain. In reference to the
excretions, the water from both acts upon the bowels,
kidneys, and skin. Beyond these sensible effects, it
pervades the whole constitution, and many classes
of invalids very soon feel a renovation of appetite,
strength, and cheerfulness, although its primary effects
seem to be sedative, not stimulant.

Dr. Drake remarks that "these waters are very
beneficial in chronic inflammations and obstructions
of the abdominal viscera, in such cases of dyspepsia
as are attended with subacute gastritis, and in almost
every kind of hepatic disorder, except when the liver
is indurated, and consequently incurable. They are
almost equally beneficial in chronic inflammations of
many other parts of the system, especially of the
serous and fibrous membranes. In tonic dropsies, in
rheumatism, and in various affections of the perios-
teum from febrile metastasis, from syphilis, and from
mercury, they have often effected a cure when other
means had failed." He also speaks very favorably
of their employment in urinary disorders and chronic
diseases of the skin. He enjoins caution in their use
in pulmonary complaints, and considers them hurtful
in vomica, tubercular suppurations, and hepatization
of the pulmonary tissue.

ROCHESTER SPRING.

Rochester Spring is a feeble but constant stream,
that bursts out about sixty feet below the summit of a
ridge of coarse-grained shell limestone. It so nearly
resembles the waters just described, that a detailed

OL YMPIAN SPRINGS.

185

account of its waters would be superfluous. It is one
mile from Perryville and twelve from Harrodsburg.

OLYMPIAN SPRINGS.

The Olympian Springs constitute one of the oldest
and most noted watering-places in Kentucky. They
are situated in Bath County, about fifty miles east of
Lexington, on the waters of Licking River, which
unites with the Ohio opposite Cincinnati.

There are several springs and wells, which present
such differences in their composition that of all the
watering-places of the West this has been supposed to
afford the greatest variety ; but Dr. Drake remarks,
*' I could not myself detect more than three kinds, —
2<. Salt and Sulphur, a White Sulphur, and a Chalybeate^

The Salt and Sulphur Well contains sulphuretted
hydrogen, muriate of soda, carbonate of soda, and
perhaps a little muriate of lime.

The White Sulphur Spring is situated half a mile
from the well. This spring is said to have made its
first appearance during the earthquakes of 181 1. Its
temperature is 59°. Its composition is essentially the
same with that of the well just described, but the
ingredients of the two vary in their proportions. The
quantity of sulphur is greater in the spring than in
the well; on the other hand, the spring has but a weak
impregnation of muriate of soda compared with the
well. The proportion of carbonate of soda is nearly
the same in both.

The Chalybeate Springs are two in number, and
are situated about forty yards apart, and half a mile
from the Salt and Sulphur Well. They are simple car-
bonated iron waters.

The Salt and Sulphur waters. Dr. Drake informs us,

1 86 SPRINGS OF KENTUCKY.

are principally drunk ; of these, from one to eight tum-
blers are taken in the morning. Its diuretic effects are
prompt, its action upon the bowels very inconsiderable.

BLUE LICK SPRINGS.

Blue Lick Springs. — At this place there are several
springs, all essentially of one kind, — the sulphurous
saline. They are situated on the bank of Licking
River, twenty-four miles from the Ohio, and on the
main road that leads from Maysville to Lexington.
From the early settlement of the State until within the
last eighteen years, salt was manufactured at this place.

The analysis of the Blue Lick waters by Professor
Peter* shows that its gaseous contents consist of sul-
phuretted hydrogen and carbonic acid ; and its solid
contents, of the carbonates of lime and magnesia, the
chlorides of potassium, sodium, and magnesia, the sul-
phates of lime and potash, bromide of magnesium,
iodide of magnesium, silicic acid, with a small amount
of alumina, phosphate of lime, and oxide of iron.

The solid contents of the Blue Lick water are to those
of the Virginia White Sulphur, as rather more than nine
to two. In the former are sixty-four grains of chloride
of sodium, or common salt, to the pint ; in the latter,
but a small fraction. The first contains about three and
a half grains of sulphate of lime, the second about ten
grains. The White Sulphur holds in solution, however,
sulphates of magnesia and soda, both of which are
wanting in the Blue Lick ; while in its turn the latter
has chloride of potassium, and sulphate of potash and
bromide of magnesium, which are not in the former.
The quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen in the Blue Lick
is double that in the White Sulphur. Iodide of magne-
sium is found in both.

* Mineral and Thermal Springs, by Dr. John Bell.

ESTILL SPRINGS.

187

The medical virtues of the Blue Lick water are those
of a saline sidphur, and are analogous to, but more active
than, the Olympian Spring water. It acts freely as a
diuretic, but only occasionally as a purgative. It may
be used with advantage in nearly all the chronic diseases
in which the sulphur waters already described have been
recommended. The water employed as a bath can be
very properly connected with its internal use.*

ESTILL SPRINGS.

Estill Springs, in Estill County, are sulphurous
waters. There are two springs here, called White and
Red Sulphur.

The White Sulphur contains 0.09 per cent, of solid
contents, the Red, 0.04 per cent., consisting in both
cases of carbonates of soda, lime, and magnesia; sul-
phates of lime, magnesia, and soda; chlorides of sodium,
calcium, and magnesium ; with hydrosulphate of soda,
and a trate of carbonate of iron.

* Between the Blue Lick and the famous Harrogate Springs, in
the North of England, there is a striking similarity ; and from some
personal knowledge of both these waters, I have no hesitancy in ex-
pressing the opinion that the waters of the Blue Lick are well adapted
to the same class of cases for the treatment of which the waters of Har-
rogate have been long celebrated.

CHAPTER XXV.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF OHIO AND INDIANA.
OHIO WHITE SULPHUR.

Ohio White Sulphur. — Near the geographical centre
of Ohio, in the county of Delaware, and immediately
on the west bank of the Scioto, surrounded by a country
broken, hilly, and beautifully picturesque, arises the
Ohio White Sulphur. The Scioto is here a rippling,
rapid stream, hastily flowing and fretting over beds of
boulder rocks, and skirted, for many miles above and
below the spring, by slopes or banks of considerable
elevation, which gently spread out into undulating table-
lands, charmingly interspersed with valley and hill, and
blessed with an atmosphere free from malarious influ-
ences at every period of the year, and as salubrious as
is found in our high mountain ranges.

Under the name of Harf s Spring, this place has
been known for its mineral waters for more than thirty
years. The circumstance that led to its improvement
as a spring property by Mr. Hart, its former proprietor,
is worthy of note. He had visited the White Sulphur
Springs in Virginia, for the relief of a complicated
stomach and liver complaint ; returning to Ohio cured
of his disease, his attention was called to this artesian
sulphur fountain, and upon examination he found its
waters so strikingly to resemble those of the Virginia
Spring as to induce him to purchase and improve it in
view of its medicinal value.

The property was subsequently owned by Mr. A.
Wilson, of Cincinnati, who erected many new build-
(i88)

SPJilNGS OF ADAMS COUNTY. 189

ings, and otherwise extensively improved the property.
The water of this spring is sulphurous, abounding prin-
cipally in the sulphates of lime and magnesia, with
chlorides of the same salts, and with some oxide of iron.
These springs for a few years were extensively visited,
but now, from some cause or other, have ceased to
be kept as a public watering-place. In natural scenic
beauty they are excelled by but few of our watering-
places.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO.

These springs are thirty miles from Portsmouth, and
thirty-six from Ripley.

A qualitative analysis of these waters shows them to
contain 120.35 grains of solid matter to the gallon, con-
sisting of chloride of magnesia, sulphate of lime, car-
bonate of lime, chlorides of calcium and sodium, and
oxide of iron, with traces of iodine.

These springs are of comparatively recent resort, but
have been used advantageously in dyspeptic depravi-
ties, liver complaints, and chronic irritations of the
abdominal viscera generally. They have also been suc-
cessfully employed in disorders of the kidneys, female
obstructions, rheumatism, and chronic diseases of the
skin, as well as in dropsical effusions.

These springs may be conveniently reached by coaches
from Portsmouth, Ripley, or Manchester, on the Ohio
River.

The Yellow Spring is in Green County, two miles
west of the Miami River, and sixty-four north of Cin-
cinnati. Dr. Drake states that "it is a copious and
constant fountain, that issues between strata of arena-
ceous limestone, and thus has geological characters per-
fectly identical with the Chalybeate Springs of the
Olympian valley in Kentucky." The temperature of
the water is the same as that of the other springs of the

17

ipo

SPJilNGS OF OHIO AND INDIANA.

neighborhood, 52° Fahr. The water is beautifully
transparent, with a slight ferruginous taste, and is said
to resemble in its composition the other limestone
springs of the country, with the addition of the car-
bonate of iron.

Dr. Drake informs us " that its water is diuretic and
slightly laxative, if it can be considered as having this
effect at all with any uniformity." He considers the
water rather restorative than curative, and as such it is
valuable for convalescents. He regards it as a pleasant
tonic, and hence valuable in cases of debility, or ex-
haustion following previous violent attacks, and in
nervous disorders.

The Westport Spring. — It arises (Dr. Bell) '' in the
bed of Deer Creek, a tributary of the Scioto River,
from a vast bed of clay-slate, which for many miles
forms the bed of the creek." It is a bold fountain,
yielding some twenty gallons of water a minute. It
belongs to the saline class, and contains sulphate of
magnesia and iron; the latter being held in solution
by carbonic acid, which gives the water a lively and
sparkling appearance as it rises to the surface. The
water is said to be mildly cathartic. It will, doubtless,
be found valuable in dyspepsia, gastralgia, and a numer-
ous class of functional derangements of the chylopoetic
viscera.

FRENCH LICK SPRINGS, INDIANA.

French Lick is situated in a beautiful valley tributary
to that of Lost River, about the centre of Orange County,
ten miles from Paoli, and eighteen from Orleans, on the
New Albany and Chicago Railroad.

There are more than a dozen of these, but all seem
to be derived from three parent springs, which are situ-
ated within an area of half an acre, but which exhibit
some difference in constitution.

FRENCH LICK SPRING.

191

Pluto' s Well, as it is termed, is remarkable for the
production of a large volume of strong sulphur water.
Its constitution is as follows, according to the analysis
of Dr, Rogers, of Madison, Indiana: —

Free Gases in Wine Gallon.

Sulphuretted hydrogen 25.5 cubic inches.

Carbonic acid 15 " "

Salts in Wine Gallon.

Chloride of sodium i40-S4 grains.

Chloride of calcium 5.35 "

Sulphate of lime 60.59 "

Sulphate of magnesia 18.12 "

Sulphate of soda... 22.37 "

Carbonate of magnesia 1.59 "

Carbonate of lime 6.95 "

Carbonate of iron and alumina a trace.

Loss 54 "

Total of salts 256.00 "

All these waters have about the same general medicinal
effect. They are alterative and tonic when moderately
used ; in larger quantities are hydragogue eliminators,
acting upon the bowels, kidneys, and skin, without, how-
ever, producing the irritating effect which this class
of agents usually induces when prepared by means of
a pharmacy less perfect than that of nature. They are
especially adapted to the treatment of diseases of the
skin, dyspepsia, constipation, chronic inflammation of
the various mucous surfaces, scrofula, rheumatism, and,
in fine, may be beneficially used in all chronic affec-
tions where a tonic and alterative effect is required.

CHAPTER XXVI.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN.

The St. Louis Magnetic Spring is an artesian well,
located in St. Louis, Gratiot County, State of Michigan.
It was undertaken with the idea of boring for salt, and
was stopped at the depth of two hundred feet, when a
flow of water of two hundred and eighty gallons per
minute had been struck. Attention was first called to
the peculiarity of this spring by observing the strong
electrical condition of the tubing of the well, through
which the water flows. It was noticed that this tubing
would attract and hold small pieces of iron and steel.
Pieces of such metals were then laid in the trench that
conveyed the surplus water away, and it was found that
they became magnetized in a day or two by the action
of the water. These facts drew attention to the water
as a therapeutic agent of probable value, and to an ex-
tensive use of it in cases to which it was supposed to be
adapted.

Dr. Samuel P. Duffield, Professor of Chemistry in
Detroit Medical College, has analyzed this water, and
obtained the following result, calculated on the Imperial
gallon. Specific gravity, ion.

Sulphate of lime 66.50 grains.

Silicate of lime 6.72 "

Chloride of lime a trace.

Bicarbonate of soda 106.40 "

Bicarbonate of lime 69.40 "

Bicarbonate of magnesia i7-5o "

Bicarbonate of iron 1.20 "

Silica free 2.88 "

Organic matter and loss 2.00 "

Total constituents 272.60 "

(192)

SPRINGS OF MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN, jg,

Bicarbonates 194.62 grains.

Free carbonic acid in gallon 6.21 "

Sulphuretted hydrogen traces.

Total mineral in one gallon 279.60 "

As regards the rationale of the magnetic state of this and
other similar waters said to exist in the same geological
district, it may be observed that they are all the result of
artesian borings of the earth for considerable distances, in
search of salt. These wells are situated along the margins
of the great salt and gypsum belts, whose waters hold
largely in solution the salts of lime and sodium. It is
well known by those who work in salt wells, and to all
scientists, that when the earth is penetrated to any
considerable depth by boring, and iron tubing is intro-
duced into the depth, saline waters flowing through the
tubing will possess in a greater or less degree some
magnetic or allied electrical action. It is caused by ter-
rest7'ial magnetism, which is imparted to the iron tubing,
and from it to the water flowing through the tubes.
And thus the water becomes the conductor of terrestrial
magnetism.

This water is strongly alkaline, and as such will
prove valuable to a numerous class of chronic disorders,
such as rheumatism, kidney, bladder, and other diseases
that are known to be successfully treated by waters of
this class. But it may well be doubted whether mag-
netism or electricity can impart to water molecular
agency and cause the molecular changes to be of a per-
manent nature. Such results cannot be demonstrated,
and there is nothing in all knowledge that is deductive
to show how such permanent effects can be accom-
plished by such agency. Hence it is difficult, without
an entire change in existing pathological and thera-
peutic views, to perceive the rationale of ascribing to
such agency the various cures said to have been effected
by this water, while the admitted efficacy of its thera-
peutic salts is overlooked or forgotten.
17*

194 ■ SPRINGS IN WISCONSIN.

SPRINGS IN WISCONSIN.

Bethesda is a strong alkaline spring recently brought
into notice as a therapeutic agent, in the town of Wau-
kesha, eighteen miles distant from Milwaukee.

The following is the analysis of this spring, made
by Prof. C. F. Chandler, of Columbia College, New
York:—

In one U. S. or wine gallon, of 231 cubic inches,
there are —

Chloride of sodium 1.160 grains.

Sulphate of potassa 0.454

Sulphate of sodium 0.542

Bicarbonate of lime 17.022

Bicarbonate of magnesia 12.388

Bicarbonate of iron 0.042

Bicarbonate of soda 1.256

Phosphate of soda a trace.

Alumina 0.122

Silica 0.741

Organic matter 1-983

Total 35.710 "

This water has been used with marked and excellent
effect in numerous cases of diabetes, and in chronic
irritations of the kidneys and bladder. Its judicious
use will doubtless be found valuable in curing various
kidney depravities, and in correcting uric acid pre-
dominance in the blood, that often lead to the forma-
tion of calculus. Some medical men who have prescribed
it, think it decidedly curative in Bright's disease of the
kidneys. That its use would be valuable in the early
stages of that formidable disease, before positive degen-
eration of the kidneys takes place, is very probable.
Indeed, its efficacy in the early stages of albuminuria
has been satisfactorily shown from its use.

CHAPTER XXVII.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF TENNESSEE.

White's Creek Spring — Robertson's — Winchester — Beersheba — Mont-
vale — Tate's — Lee's — Sulphur and Chalybeate — Alum Springs —
Warm Spring on the French Broad.

The same great Appalachian chain of mountains that
extends through Virginia and West Virginia, and affords
what is there known as the "Spring Region," continues
its course southwesterly through the State of Tennessee
from the northeastern to the southwestern border of the
State, gradually losing its elevation as it goes south,
until, finally, in Alabama, it sinks into the alluvial
plains that extend to the Gulf of Mexico.

This extensive mountain range, or rather series of
mountains, running on the same parallel, is called in
Tennessee the Cumberland range, and divides East
Tennessee from Middle Tennessee.

On the southern border of the State, for nearly two
hundred miles in length, is the great chain of the Blue
Ridge mountains, a continuation of the same lofty
range that in Virginia separates the Great Valley from
Eastern Virgmia.

In Tennessee, this range of mountains is on the line
between that State and North Carolina, South Carolina,
and Georgia. Both of these great mountain ranges
afford essentially the same geological characteristics
in Tennessee that they do in Virginia; and on their
slopes, and near their base, in the latter as in the former
State, mineral springs of various qualities and strength
are known to exist. But as yet in Tennessee few of

(195)

156 SPRINGS OF TENNESSEE.

these springs have been improved and made places
of resort for the invalid, or the general public ; nor
have they yet, as a general thing, made out a satisfac-
tory record of their precise quality or medicinal appli-
cabilities.

The saline and stdphurous and the carbonated iron
waters are those most frequently met with in this State.
I proceed to mention those that have been introduced
to public notice as places of valetudinary or pleasure
resorts.

White's Creek Spring is "twelve miles from Nash-
ville. It is held in high estimation by many, and is
considerably resorted to. It contains sulphur, iron, and
magnesia, the former in large proportion. In cutaneous
disorders and calculous affections it has been much
praised for its curative powers.

Robertson's Springs belong to the class of saline
waters. They are twenty miles from Nashville.

Winchester Springs are four miles from the pleasant
town of Winchester, in Franklin County, on the Nash-
ville and Chattanooga Railroad, seventy miles from
Nashville, and fifty from Chattanooga.

There are here, in close proximity, four different
springs, — Red and White Sulphur, Chalybeate, and
Preestone. These springs enjoy considerable celebrity
and patronage, and are well worthy of attention as a
place of both healthful and pleasurable resort.

In the same neighborhood, and but four miles dis-
tant, other springs have been discovered, called Alli-
sona Springs. They resemble the Winchester Springs
in quality, and promise to be of equal medicinal value.

Beersheba Springs are on the summit of one ot
the spurs of the Cumberland Mountain, in the county
of Grundy, about twelve miles northeast from McMinns-

MONTVALE SPRINGS.

197

ville. They have come into notice as a watering-place
within the last fifteen years.

The water is a saline chalybeate, and is regarded
as a valuable tonic alterative.

These springs have been tastefully and conveniently
improved for the accommodation of from four to five
hundred persons.

The scenery surrounding the Beersheba Springs is
both beautiful and picturesque, and remarkalDle alike
for its extent of range and its wild and romantic
prospects.

There are here some fifteen or twenty elegant cot-
tage residences, belonging to and generally occupied
by wealthy families of Nashville and other parts of the
Southwest.

The society assembled at the place during the sum-
mer is always select, elegant, and cultivated, and this,
in connection with the value of the waters and the
salubrious character of the atmosphere, makes Beer-
sheba a desirable summer retreat.

Through the entire circuit of East Tennessee, as
bounded by the Cumberland range of mountains on
the north and the Blue Ridge on the south, mineral
waters are abundant, and some, particularly of the
saline and chalybeate character, have been demon-
strated to be of excellent character.

MoNTVALE Springs are in Blount County, twenty-
four miles south of Knoxville. They belong to the
saline class.

The analysis of these waters, by Professor Mitchell,
shows that they contain in one gallon of water —

Chloride of sodium 1.96

Sulphate of magnesia 12.00

Sulphate of lime 74-21

Sulphate of soda 4.51

Carbonate of lime 13-26

Carbonate of iron 2.40

198 SPUING S OF TENNESSEE.

They also show traces of potash and organic matter,
with an excess of carbonic acid.

The Montvale are valuable waters, and very favor-
ably represent the class to which they belong. In
many of the dyspeptic depravities, and generally in the
chronic disorders of the abdominal and pelvic viscera,
they are used with great success.

They enjoy considerable reputation in the cure of
chronic diarrhoea, a disease very common and very
fatal in our extreme Southern latitudes. In the sum-
mer of 1854 the author spent several weeks at Mont-
vale, and witnessed the operation of its waters in quite
a number of cases of this disease. In those in which
it was used in quantities but slightly provocative of
increased operations from the bowels, and in which a
guarded forbearance in diet and general living was
observed, it proved eminently useful, and especially in
cases connected with and kept up by depraved biliary
secretions; while, on the other hand, those who used
the water in full purgative doses derived no benefit,
and some were injured. The best article in the Mate-
ria Medica may be so misused as to render it inert or
injurious, and the invalid at this or at any of the mineral
springs should remember that it is not, as many seem
to suppose, to drink and be healed, but so to drijik as to
secure the proper and sanative effects of the agent.*

The waters of the Montvale more resemble those of
the Alleghany Springs in Virginia than any other with
which I can compare them.

Tate's Springs are in the county of Granger. They
are saline waters, and are very like those of Montvale,
but hold in solution a larger amount of iron.

Lee's Springs are twenty miles east of Knoxville.

* See account of Montvale Springs, by J. J. Moorman, M.D., pub-
lished in 1855.

ALUM SPRINGS.— WARM SPRING.

199

There are here two sulphur springs and a chalybeate
spring. The sulphurs are good waters of their class ;
the chalybeate is pure and strong, and superior to many-
waters of its kind.

At the town of Rutledge, in Granger County, is a
very strong sulphurous spring, and near Bean's Station,
in the same county, are several beautiful fountains of
sulphur water, abounding in red and white deposits.

Alum Springs. — I have examined the waters from
an alum spring found near Rogersville, in Hawkins
County, which compare favorably with any alum waters
that are known.

Warm Spring. — On the French Broad River, near
the North Carolina line, there is a warm spring of
95° Fahr. issuing from the bank of the river.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

SPRINGS OF NORTH CAROLINA.

Warm and Hot Springs of Buncombe — Shocco Spring — Jones' White
Sulphur and Chalybeate — Kittrell's Springs.

North Carolina is not remarkable for mineral
springs. The most noted are the —

Warm and Hot Springs of Buncombe. — These ther-
mal fomitains arise on the western bank of the French
Broad River, and so near the stream that in times of
high freshets they are overflown by its waters.

The fountains are three in number, and vary in tem-
perature from 94° to 104° Fahr.

Professor Smith obtained the following results from
analyzing three quarts of the water: —

Muriate of lime and magnesia 4 grains.

Sulphate of magnesia 6 "

Sulphate of lime 4i-OS "

Insoluble residue 2.05 "

Loss I "

27.10 "
Equal to 4.66 grains in a pint.

This water lies lightly upon the stomach, and is
often used by visitors to the extent of three quarts, or
even more, in the course of the day. In such doses,
it is said to excite active purgation when first used,
but after a few days it ceases to have any active effect.

As a bath, these waters have a wide and appropriate
applicability. The bath of 94° will very generally be
( 200 )

SPRINGS OF BUNCOMBE. 201

found safe and salutary for most persons. Those of
higher temperature should be used with caution, and
with a prudent reference to the nature of the disease
and the state of the system at the time of their use.
As stated when treating of the Hot Springs in Vir-
ginia, hot baths are potent and positive agents ; they
are revolutionary remedies, and to be used safely and
successfully must be used with wise discrimination.
They are unsuited to persons in ordinary health, and
to all acute or subacute cases, but admirably suited to
many cases of obstinate chronic diseases, especially to
chronic rheumatism, palsy, and other cases depending
upon obstinate obstructions and loss of vascular and
nervous energy.

An able writer upon baths adopts the following
decision as to their temperature, which may well be
made a fixed rule to determine the import of language
when we speak generally of the temperature of baths : —

1. The cold bath from 33° to 60° Fahr.

2. The cool bath . .• " 60° to 70° "

3. The temperate bath " 75° to 85° "

4. The tepid bath " 85° to 92° "

5. The warm bath " 92° to 98° "

6. Thehotbath " 98° to 112° "

He remarks that "the only upward limit of the hot
bath is that of tolerance by the living body immersed
in it. As it regards the effects, in a general way, of
these several kinds of baths, we may speak of them
under two divisions, therapeutically considered. In
the first, from the warm down to cold, we shall find a
calming and soothing operation continued, with the
reduced temperature of the water, to the most depress-
ing sedative, — in fact, a reducing power ; and in the
second, from the upper degrees of warmth, a stimu-
lating and strongly exciting operation. What a mis-
chievous error, therefore, is the too common one of
confounding a warm with a hot bath, and directing the

18

202 SPRINGS OF NORTH CAROLINA.

one for the other, as if they were convertible terms
expressing the same thing, instead of being in direct
contrast with each other ! It may serve to indicate the
striking difference between the warm bath and the hot
bath when I say that the first is a grateful hygienic
agent, which almost everybody can make use of with
benefit, in addition to its employment as a therapeu-
tical one in the treatment of disease ; whereas the hot
bath is, or ought to be, a remedial agent to be used
solely in disease, and even then with considerable cau-
tion and discernment."

Shocco Springs are situated nine miles from Warren-
ton, in Warren County. They are a mild sulphurous
saline water. My valued friend Dr. Howard, formerly
of Warrenton, informs me that they are "mildly aperient
and actively diuretic, producing, after a few days' use,
free bilious evacuations, and that they are advantage-
ously employed in the various diseases for which mild
sulphur waters are usually prescribed."

Shocco is improved by a large hotel and comfortable
cabins, that will pleasantly accommodate four hundred
persons.

Jones' White Sulphur and Chalybeate Springs
are located about five miles from Shocco, and eleven
from Warrenton ; they are improved for the accommo-
dation of about three hundred and fifty visitors, and
about that number may be found there at the height of
the season.

The White Sulphur is a mild sulphurous saline water,
and acts favorably in certain hepatic derangements,
jaundice, dyspepsia, etc.

The Chalybeate is a strong ferruginous water ; the
iron is held in solution by carbonic acid. Dr. Howard
considers it an excellent tonic, and " well suited for
all those cases characterized by an enfeebled habit,
and especially when the blood has been deprived of its

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.

203

normal proportion of iron. It displays marked effi-
cacy in those whose blood has been robbed of this
important element by malarious fevers, and in chloro-
sis, amenorrhcea, " etc.

Kittrell's Springs. — Immediately on the railroad
from Weldon to Raleigh, in the county of Granville,
and half a mile from the village of Henderson, KittreW s
Springs are found. They have attracted public notice
only for the last ten years, and as yet there is but little
improvement at the place for the accommodation of
visitors. The water of these springs has acquired con-
siderable local reputation for the cure of various dis-
eases, and particularly for scrofulous affections.

Chemical examinations have ascertained that the
water holds in solution iron, magnesia, lime, alum,
soda, and potassa.

These springs are probably destined to acquire a
valuable medicinal reputation, and, when properly im-
proved, to become a place of considerable valetudinary
resort.

The White Sulphur Springs, in Catawba County,
are improved for the accommodation of a large number
of visitors. They are delightfully situated, and are in
a very salubrious and healthy climate.

In addition to the sulphur waters, there is here an
excellent chalybeate spring, that has been long used to
the great advantage of many invalids.

These springs can be conveniently reached by the
distant visitant by making Salisbury a point in the
travel from the north, south, or east.

CHAPTER XXIX.

SPRINGS OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

Glenn's — West's — Springs in Abbeville and Laurens Districts, etc. —
Chick's^Williamstown Springs — Artesian Well in Charleston.

Glenn's Springs, in Spartansburg District, have con-
siderable notoriety for their medicinal virtues.

Professor Shepard, of Charleston, states that the
waters of these springs are strongly impregnated with
sulphur, and that they also contain traces of sulphate
of magnesia, with sulphate, percarbonate, and chloride
of lime.

These springs are much resorted to by the people of
the lower country. Their situation is pleasant, salu-
brious, and healthful, and their waters are highly
esteemed by many, particularly in dyspeptic affections.

In the same district, and a few miles above the village
of Spartansburg, there is a spring which is somewhat
resorted to, and has acquired some local reputation.

West's Spring is in the neighborhood of Glenn! s.
It is a chalybeate of good promise.

Chalybeate springs are found in various parts of the
State, particularly in Abbeville and Laurens Districts.
In Laurens three or four chalybeate and sulphur foun-
tains are known, that arise in the slate and hornblende
formations that exist between the Ennoree and the
Saluda, that are worthy of public attention.

I am indebted to the late Professor S. H. Dickson for
the information that the springs most visited in South
(204)

CHARLESTON ARTESIAN WELL.

205

Carolina are Chick' s Springs, in Greenville District, on
the Ennoree River, just below the mountains, and Wil-
liamstown Springs, between Anderson and Greenville.

Chick's Springs are two in number. One is slightly-
sulphurous, and is used for hepatic and intestinal affec-
tions and cutaneous disorders. The other is a mild
chalybeate, and is employed as a tonic.

The WiLLiAMSTOWN Springs have never been ana-
lyzed, so far as I know. They are supposed to be both
tonic and alterative.

Charleston Artesian Well.— The water obtained
from this well has acquired some reputation as a reme-
dial agent. An analysis of this water shows that one
gallon contains nearly the third of an ounce of solid
matter. Half of this is common salt, and three-quarters
of the remainder are carbonate of soda. It has also
traces of potash, bromide of magnesia, sulphate of lime,
borate of soda, silica, and fluorine. It has been much
used in Charleston, and many affirm that it relieves
various derangements of the stomach and bowels. The
late Professor Dickson informed me that horses are ex-
tremely fond of it, and that it is believed to act upon
them beneficially, in promoting their ready fattening,
and giving them ,a smooth and glossy coat. This
water is exported in bottles and sold in considerable
quantities in the Northern cities.

18*

CHAPTER XXX.

SPRINGS OF GEORGIA.

Indian — Madison — Warm Springs — Gordon's — Catoosa Springs.

The Indian Springs, in the county of Butts, are stil-
phurous waters, and are considerably visited and much
relied upon as remedial agents. They have been used
with excellent effect in chronic rheumatism, and for
various diseases of the liver and stomach.

The Madison Springs have long been regarded as a
pure and excellent chalybeate. They are found in the
county of Madison, and are much visited by those who
desire the use of iron tonics.

The Warm Springs are in the county of Merriwether.
Their temperature is 95°. They have acquired con-
siderable reputation for the cure of rheumatism, gout,
and other chronic affections for which such waters are
commonly employed.

They are all situated in pleasant and salubrious dis-
tricts, and so far elevated above the sea-board as to
secure them against malarial influences.

Professor Richard D. Arnold, of Savannah, in a com-
munication to Dr. Bell, thus speaks of this and the In-
dian Spring waters : —

"You have chalybeate springs in abundance at the
North, but I doubt very much if any two springs can
anywhere be found combining such decided medicinal
qualities as the Indian and the Merriwether War?n
Springs. They are also of very easy access from the
( 206 )

GORDON'S SPRINGS.— CATOOSA SPRINGS.

207

North. One of our fine sea-steamers would land a
patient at our wharves in sixty hours from New York,
and our railroad would convey him to within sixteen
miles of the Indian Springs and about fifty of the Warm
Springs. The former would be reached within four
and a half days of travel from New York, and the latter
within five and a half days."

Gordon's Springs, in the county of Murray, and
Rowland's Springs, in the county of Cass, are cha-
lybeates, and, within the last few years, are said to be
attracting some attention from invalids.

Catoosa Springs are in the county of Catoosa, in
the extreme western part of the State. They have not
been analyzed, but are regarded as a saline chalybeate.
They have been improved for the accommodation of
several hundred persons, and are much visited during
the watering-season.

CHAPTER XXXI.

SPRINGS OF ALABAMA.
Bladen Springs — Bailey's Spring — Tallahatta Springs.

Alabama has several springs of decidedly marked
properties, the most noted of which is —

Bladen Springs, in the county of Clarke. These
springs are within three miles of the Tombecbee River,
eighty-five from Mobile, and seven from Coffeeville.
The country surrounding them is broken and hilly,
with a forest growth of pine, hickory, oak, etc., and
is well supplied with wholesome water.

The accommodations at the springs are sufficient for
several hundred visitors.

Six fountains, differing slightly from each other,
issue from the earth within a small compass, furnishing
an abundant supply of water.

Professor Brumby, of the University of Alabama,
has analyzed the Bladen waters,* and from a wine pint
obtained the following results : —

Sulphuretted hydrogen, quantity not ascertained.

Carbonic acid gas 4-07S cubic inches.

Chloride of sodium 0.9625 "

Oxide of iron 0.0300 "

Sulphate of lime 0.0019 "

Crenic aid 0.0912 "

Loss 0.0400 "

Carbonate of soda 4.1112 "

* We are indebted to Dr. Bell's work on " Mineral and Thermal
Springs" for many facts in reference to the springs of the extreme
Southern States.
(208)

BAILEY'S SPRING.

209

Carbonate of lime 0-3437 cubic inches.

Carbonate of magnesia 0.1706 "

Silica of alumina 0.2631 "

Apocrenic acid 0.0750 "

The relatively large amount of carbonate of soda,
with free carbonic acid, in this spring, classes it among
the acidulous waters.

In various affections of the stomach, bowels, and
kidneys, as well as in chronic rheumatism and diseases
of the skin, the Bladen waters would prove valuable.

Bailey's Spring is in Lauderdale County, nine miles
from Florence, and fourteen from Tuscumbia. The
water is cool, transparent, and essentially tasteless.

It has been chemically examined by Dr. Curry, of
Knoxville, and is shown to contain sulphuretted hydro-
gen, carbonic acid, carbonates of soda and magnesia,
oxide of iron in union with carbonic acid, carbonate of
potash, and chloride of sodium.

The composition of this water shows that it would
prove valuable in the various functional disorders of the
abdominal and pelvic organs, in mercurial diseases, and
generally in chronic affections of the skin, as well as in
rheumatism and gout.

Besides the springs before noticed, the Tallahatta
Springs are much visited by persons in that part of the
State. These waters are said to contain sulphur, mag-
nesia, lime, and the salts of iron.

CHAPTER XXXII.

SPRINGS OF MISSISSIPPI.
Cooper's Well — Ocean Springs.

Cooper's Well is the most noted mineral fountain
in Mississippi ; it is in the county of Hinds, twelve
miles west of Jackson, and four from Raymond, the
shire town of the county, and near the Jackson Rail-
road.

The water rises in an artesian well, one hundred and
seven feet deep, through solid sandstone rock. The
surrounding country is broken and diversified, and is
thought to be dry and salubrious. The water of this
well is an active saline chalybeate.

An analysis of one gallon of the water, by Dr. J.
Lawrence Smith, gives in gaseous contents : —

Oxygen 6.5 cubic inches.

Nitrogen 4.5 "

Carbonic acid 4.0 "

Solid contents : —

Sulphate of soda 11.705 grains.

Sulphate of magnesia 23.280

Sulphate of lime 32.132

Sulphate of potash 0.608

Sulphate of alumina 6.120

Chloride of sodium 8.360

Chloride of calcium 4-322

Chloride of magnesium 3.480

Peroxide of iron 3.362

Crenate of hme 0.31 1

Crenate of silica. 1.801

105.471
(210)

COOPER'S WELL. 21 1

The deposit obtained by evaporating the water con-
tains in one hundred and five grains —

Water '38 grains.

Chloride of lime 2 "

Sulphate of lime 25 "

Peroxide of iron 25 "

This water is said to lose none of its qualities by
being kept from the fountain.

The water of Cooper's Well enjoys a high reputation
in dyspepsia and the various intestinal diseases of long
standing; in liver complaints, chronic inflammation
of the bladder, in dropsy, and especially in chronic
diar7-hosa. Its analysis shows that it is a medicinal
agent of very decided powers.

Dr. Foster's case, as reported by Dr. I. M. Sims, of
Montgomery, Alabama, is very remarkable. It was a
chronic diarrhoea in its worst form, emaciation extreme,
skin dry, eyes sunken, expression so ghastly as to cause
a lady to faint at sight of him, small and feeble pulse,
frequent and copious dejections from the bowels. Dr.
F. commenced by taking a wineglassful of the water
four times during the day, gradually increasing the
amount until he drank a pint in the course of the day.
In eight weeks he was cured, and returned home a well
man.

The medical properties of this water are cathartic or
aperient, according to the quantity taken. It also exerts
diuretic, sudorific, tonic, and alterative influences upon
the system. As an alterative, its influence upon the
blood and upon diseased organs and tissues is especially
worthy of notice. The efficacy of the water in various
diseases usually unmanageable in the hands of physi-
cians commends it to the attention of the medical pro-
fession ; while the promptness and certainty of its
action entitle it to the hopeful consideration of the
invalid.

To the various diseases of the abdominal and pelvic

212 SPRINGS OF MISSISSIPPI.

regions this water is well adapted. Among these, dis-
eases of the biliary organs unattended with obstinate
obstructions, dyspeptic depravities, and chronic diar-
rhoea, are treated by it with great success.

While as a remedy in that scourge of the South,
chronic diarrhoea, this water may be looked to gener-
ally with great hope, a careful discrimination is never-
theless necessary in using it in such cases, for, if the
diarrhoea be connected with, or dependent upon, a
diseased condition of the lungs, it would prove posi-
tively injurious, and hasten a fatal tendency.

The Ocean Springs are situated in the pine hills of
Jackson County, five miles from the town of Biloxi,
half a mile from Biloxi Bay, and near Fort Bayou.

One gallon of this water has in gaseous contents —

Carbonic acid 4-63* grains.

Sulphuretted hydrogen 0.481 "

In solid contents —

Chloride of sodium 47-770 grains.

Chloride of calcium 3-882 "

Chloride of magnesia 4-989 "

Protoxide of iron 4-712 "

With traces of iodine, organic matter, chloride of potassium, and
alumina.

Dr. Bell, in quoting Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, remarks
that the iron is doubtless in combination with both the
sulphuretted hydrogen and carbonic acid gases ; the
excess of carbonic acid holding both these combina-
tions in solution.

Dr. Austin, of New Orleans, in a letter to Dr. Bell,
states that striking cures have been wrought by these
waters in many chronic diseases ; among them are af-
fections of the skin, scrofula, dyspepsia, and strumous
ophthalmia.

The Ocean Springs are very easy of approach both
from New Orleans and Mobile, being about ninety miles
distant from both places.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

SPRINGS OF ARKANSAS AND FLORIDA.

The Hot Springs of Arkansas, commonly known
as the Washita Springs, are among the most remark-
able thermal fountains in the world.

They are located in Hot Springs County, latitude
34° 5', longitude 16° i', about fifty-five miles south-
west from Little Rock. Hot Spring Valley runs due
north and south between the two spurs of the Ozark
Mountains, through which a bold creek heads its way
over an almost unbroken bed of slate, emptying into
the Ouachita River, about five miles distant.

Hot Springs Mountain lies on the east of the valley,
from the west side of which gush the Hot Springs,
rising upwards of two hundred feet from the level of
the valley, and from the very base, and many from the
bottom of the creek; the valley is about three hundred
feet wide, and eight hundred yards in length. Fifty-
four hot springs have been tested in temperature, whilst
many at the bottom of the creek, and under the ledges,
cannot be, except with too great labor. About 350
gallons of hot water are discharged into the creek per
minute from said fifty-four springs, which affords the
enormous yield of 504,000 gallons in twenty-four hours.
The largest spring discharges 60 gallons of hot water
per minute, at a temperature of 148°, and will cook eggs
in fifteen minutes. There is only one hot spring on
the west side of the creek, called the alum, and im-
mediately opposite, on the east side, one of sulphur,
though very slightly impregnated with either. There

19 (213)

214

SPIilNGS OF ARKANSAS.

are only four cold-water springs in the vicinity of the
Hot Springs, viz. ; one chalybeate 70° temperature,
south end of valley, two freestone 70° temperature,
north end, and one chalybeate 69°, quarter-mile north-
east. There are two wells in the valley about twenty
feet deep, 70° temperature. Water boils on the sum-
mit of Hot Spring Mountain at 208° : scant five hun-
dred and twenty feet elevation for each degree less
212°, gives nearly twenty-one hundred feet above the
level of the sea. In Hot Springs Valley water boils at
209°, which makes Hot Springs Mountain five hundred
and sixty feet above the valley.

On the summit of the mountain are heavy pine and
oak timber, abounding with clusters of grape-vines,
huge masses of quartz rock, apparently upheaved by
some convulsion of nature ; immediately below the
summit, sharp-cornered broken honey-comb rocks, with
sparkling surfaces; still lower, a heavy undergrowth of
pines and other trees, and from thence, where the Hot
Springs flow to the base, calcareous tufa.

These springs vary in temperature from 100° to 148°
Fahr. These results were arrived at by testing them at
three different hours of the day, viz., between four and
six o'clock A.M., at twelve M., and between four and
six P.M. There is no perceptible difference in the
temperature tested at these several periods.

The vapor baths that have been constructed here
stand at 112°, the douche, a spirit bath, at 120°, and
the saving bath at 116'^, the two latter varying slightly,
from the negligence of the attendants.

The analysis, by Dr. Owen, of what is termed the
Rector House Well, shows it to contain bicarbonates
of lime, magnesia, and iron, subcarbonates of magnesia,
iron, and soda, chloride of sodium, and sulphates of
soda and magnesia in small quantities.

The medicinal effect of this water, internally used,
is slightly aperient, antacid, and tonic.

It has been observed by Dr. Owen. that all the springs,

HOT SPRINGS.

215

wells, and water-courses of this region of country par-
take of some mineral impregnation in a greater or less
degree.

A heavy fog continually hangs over these springs,
and upon the sides of the mountains, giving the neigh-
borhood the appearance, at a little distance, of a num-
ber of furnaces in active operation.

The water is, essentially, tasteless, very clear, pure,
and transparent, and does not deposit sediment by
standing.

Near the edges of the springs is found luxuriously
growing a species of green algce, which seems to de-
light in these natural hotbeds, while the sides of the
mountain are covered with luxuriant vines, continually
watered by the condensation of the vapor from the
springs.

Mr. Featherstonehaugh, in his " Geological Report of
1835," remarks that the lofty ridges around these springs
consist of old red sandstone formation. Upon the
eastern ridge are found fragments of the rock, often
ferruginous, with conglomerate united by ferruginous
cement. Upon the side of this ridge is found trav-
ertin, deposited by the mineral waters, extending the
distance of one hundred and fifty yards, resting upon
the old red sandstone, presenting, sometimes, abrupt
escarpments of from fifteen to twenty feet.

Dr. G. W. Lawrence, a gentleman eminent in the
profession, and who for many years has resided as a
practitioner at these springs, has kindly favored me
with a communication upon their therapeutic character,
from which I make the following extracts : —

" As a stimulant, when taken internally, it arouses the
absorbent dJVi^ secreting system, stimulates the hcemic glands ,
produces more rapid 7//^/^;//^;;;?^/?c'j-/>, and ^alterant' action
is the result. The water is easily assimilated and brought
rapidly into the circulating system ; thus producing, when
elaborated, active eliminative agency. Thus we have
all the blood-making organs aroused by the pure, taste-

2i6 SPRINGS OF ARKANSAS.

less, inodorous, natural stimulant, through the medium
of the blood. It rapidly courses every part of the cir-
culation, and if no organic disease exists, the efficacy, as
an adjunct, in the treatment of all blood diseases, is some-
times truly marvelous.

" In uterine diseases, as a class, these waters are un-
rivaled in efficacy. In that tedious form of chronic
metritis where ulcerative action ensues, and neuralgia
and functional difficulties follow, no agency can be
made more valuable to the sufferer.

"Where sterility is alone functional, the causes can
generally be relieved by the judicious use (internally
and externally) of the waters. Cutaneous diseases,
the opprobrium generally of the medical profession,
especially when of a specific type, are treated here with
the greatest advantages, — not only from the agreeable
detergent action of the baths, or the maceration of old
morbid surface-tissues that are cleansed, but in the treat-
ment of all skin-diseases, where we find integumentary
alterations or lesions existing, the natural tepid, warm,
and hot baths in efficiency cannot be excelled. In all
rheumatic conditions of the system, after the acute or in-
flammatory action subsides, the thermal waters enjoy
great celebrity for their good qualities and curative
properties. In the treatment of gout and gouty rheu-
matism, the waters have like reputation in controlling
the ^diathesis,' if persistently used as directed. As
remedial adjuncts in the treatment of scrofula, syphilis,
mercurio-syphilis, mercurial diseases, and climatic {ma-
larial) ills, where prompt ' depurative' and ^ eliminative'
agency is demanded, these waters have no superior, in
fact stand unrivaled, in combined properties, for that
agency. In all diseases of the brain or lesions of the
spinal marrow, these waters are positively injurious.
Experience, with careful circumspection, satisfies me
that the waters should not be used in epilepsy, except it
is purely oi functional origin. Females should avoid,
if possible, the treatment of chronic diseases during

SPRINGS OF FLORIDA.

217

pregnancy, as unpleasant results are very apt to follow
general bathing.

"In all diseases of the lungs, or bronchial tubes,
without specific origin, all natural thermal waters are
undesirable, as they oppress respiration by stimulating
circulatory action, and cause an afflux of blood to the
bronchial surfaces. In organic diseases of the heart,
thermal waters (either natural or artificial) should not
be used."

About three miles from the Hot Springs there is a
chalybeate spring, which is said to be of very fine quality.

In Montgomery County, forty miles from the Hot
Springs, is a spring known as ''Bill Iron^ s Salt Sul-
phur,^^ which is said to possess highly exhilarating prop-
erties, so much so as to produce the peculiar symptoms
of incipient intoxication.

SPRINGS OF FLORIDA.

There are light sulphurous waters in various parts of
Florida, but none have become places of large visita-
tion. Among these may be mentioned the Sulphur
Spring nea.r Tampa. It arises from a bed of limestone.
The water is remarkably clear and transparent, and
forms a basin at its source eighteen feet deep.

There are several springs on the St. John's and
Suwanee Rivers, known as the Magnolia, the Walake,
and the Enterprise Springs, — all sulphurous.

At the Magnolia, a sanatariuni has been established
for the reception of invalids who may wish to spend
the winter in that climate.

We are told, by a writer in the Floridian 'journal,
that Florida greatly abounds in mineral waters, and
that their solid contents consist generally of the sul-
phates of lime, soda, and magnesia, with oxide of iron ;
their gaseous contents of sulphuretted hydrogen, car-
bonic acid, and nitrogen gases. But too little, as yet,
is known of these springs to determine with certainly
their relative or positive merits.
19*

CHAPTER XXXIV.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

Saratoga and Ballston Group — Classification of Waters — Geological
Position — Thermalization of Waters— Analysis of Various Springs,
etc.

Next to Virginia, New York is more distinguished
for the number and variety of her mineral springs than
any State of tlie Union. With less variety in the com-
position of her waters than Virginia, she nevertheless
])Ossesses some of very high medicinal character, and
that have more largely attracted public attention than
any other waters in America. I allude, of course, to
the distinguished group known as the Sai-afoga and
Ballston Springs. This entire group possesses essentially
the same properties and virtues; the difference between
the several springs consisting merely in the proportions
of their relative gaseous and saline contents.

The famous Series of springs at Saratoga comprise
the several springs known as Congress, Putnam, Pavil-
ion, High Rock, Iodine, Flat Rock, Hamilton, Colinn-
bian, Washington, Empire, Saratoga Alum, Geyser,
Star, Halthorn, Excelsior, Seltzer, and Red Spring.

The village of Ballston Spa lies about seven miles
southwest from Saratoga. The large resort to this
place, on account of its mineral springs, makes it, like
Saratoga, a place of considerable notoriety.

The mineral springs of Ballston comprise the Sans
Souci, Low' s Park, the Neio and the Old Washington
Springs, and the Sulphur Spri/ig.

The waters of Ballston, with the exception of the
(218)

SARATOGA AND BALLSTON.

219

Sulphur Spring, evidently belong to the same class with
those of the Saratoga group. And although they do
not contain quite so large a proportion of saline quali-
ties as some of the Saratoga fountains, they are, never-
theless, entitled to rank high among the acidulous
chalybeate waters of our country.

In classifying the Saratoga and Ballston springs, we
may well regard them as acidiilo- saline or carbonated
saline waters. Their large amount of carbonic acid
gas and of carbonates, with their heavy impregnation
with chloride of sodium, distinctly assigns them to this
class.

The great Appalachian chain of geological upheav-
ings, extending through Virginia and West Virginia,
and furnishing such an extensive series of thermal and
medicated waters, is probably on the same or a parallel
axis with that which gives the famous waters of Saratoga
and Ballston.

The fact that the various springs of Saratoga and
Ballston hold in solution essentially the same ingre-
dients, and differ from each other only in the quantity
of ingredients common to all, goes to show that they
derive their distinctive qualities from one common
source, but are modified to some extent in their pas-
sage to the surface of the earth by the peculiar character
of the different strata through which they have passed.

" If," says Dr. Bell,* " we admit the correctness of
Dr. Daubeny's observation, that the temperature of the
water of the Congress spring at Saratoga, 51° Fahr., is
three or four degrees above the mean temperature of
the earth at this place, we can give credence to the
opinion of the thermal origin of the water, and of the
mode of extrication of the carbonic acid so largely
found ; it being brought about by subterranean heat
acting on limestone rocks. The first process would
consist of the junction of carbonic acid coming through

* Mineral and Thermal Waters of the United States and Canada.

2 20 SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

the clefts and small canals, with the meteoric water
which had reached its greatest depth and was begin-
ning to rise in larger canals. The second process
would be the decomposition and solution of portions
of certain rocks, and the formation of acidulous springs,
rich in carbonic acid and carbonates. The same heat
which would drive off carbonic acid from limestone
would readily raise the temperature of the meteoric
water which finds its way into the interior of the earth,
and we should then have thermal — warm and hot —
springs. Reasoning in this way, we can easily adopt
the views of those who maintain that carbonated and
thermal springs are similar in their mineral, and still
more in their geological, position, and seem to be
plainly referable to the same system of causes."

Admitting the correctness of the supposition that
subterranean heat may be sufficient to eliminate car-
bonic acid from limestone, and so to heat meteoric
water in the bowels of the earth as to return it to the
surface in the form of hot and warm springs, a question
for the curious still remains to be mooted. Is this sub-
terranean heat volcanic, and consequently local, or is
it from the great "central heat" of the earth, con-
tended for by Mr. Daubeny and others ? Many geo-
logical appearances in the regions in which we find
thermal waters, not to mention the extensive upheav-
ings and displacement of strata generally found in the
neighborhood of such springs, lend some countenance
to the volcanic origin of such waters. On the other
hand, the theory of the central heat of the earth, which
alleges that the earth's heat increases about one degree
for every hundred feet we descend in it, while it has
been occasionally sustained by deep artesian borings,
has, on the other hand, been so often refuted by such
borings, that it seems unsafe, in the absence of more
conclusive proof, to adopt it as a fixed and well-de-
termined fact.

SARATOGA SFJ?/jVGS.

CONGRESS SPRING.

The following is the analysis of the Congress water,
as made by Dr. Steel : —

He states that the temperature of the water is 50°.
Dr. Daubeny marks it at 51° Fahr.

Both its temperature and quantity are said to be the
same at all seasons.

One gallon of the water yields —

Chloride of sodium 385.0

Hydriodate of soda 3.5

Carbonate of soda •

Bicarbonate of soda 8.982^

Carbonate of magnesia

Bicarbonate of magnesia 95-788

Carbonate of lime 98.098

Carbonate of iron 5-075

Silica 1.5

Hydrobromate of potassa a trace.

597-943

Gaseous contents : —

Carbonic acid 311 cubic inches.

Atmospheric air 7 " "

318 "

Dr. Chilton's examination of this water, as given by
Dr. North, differs somewhat from the above. He found
a minute portion of alum, sulphate of soda, iodide of
sodium, and bromide of potassium, to the amount of
5.920 grains to the gallon of water. According to his
estimates, the solid and gaseous contents of the water
in one gallon are as follows: —

Solid contents 543-998 grains.

Carbonic acid 284.65 cubic inches.

Atmospheric air 5.41 " "

290.06 " "

Iodine was first discovered in these waters in 1828,
and was announced in the American Journal of Science

22 2 SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

in 1829. In 1830, Mr. A. A. Hays detected bromine
and potash in the water. The quantity of these ingre-
dients is, however, very small, and to detect them with
certainty it is necessary to operate on a large quantity.

Putnam Spring. — This spring, bearing the name of
its proprietor, is regarded as the richest chalybeate in
the Saratoga group. It is reported as containing seven
grains of the carbonate of iron to the gallon, in addi-
tion to the salts common to it and the other springs.
This, comparatively, is a heavy chalybeate impregna-
tion. The famous Fyrmont Spritig, in Westphalia, which
enjoys, perhaps, the largest European reputation as an
iron tonic, contains, agreeably to the analysis of M.
Westrum, but 85- grains of iron to the gallon; while
the celebrated Pouhon, at Spa, in Belgium, little if any
less distinguished as a chalybeate tonic, contains but
5.24 grains of iron to the gallon, according to the
analysis of the celebrated Bergmann.

Pavilion Spring. — The saline contents of the water
of this spring are less than those of the Congress, being
31 1. 71 grains in the gallon. It, however, exceeds the
latter in the proportion of its carbonic acid, of which
it has 359.05 cubic inches to the gallon. This spring
is near the Columbian Hotel, and not far from the
centre of the town.

Union Spring. — By Dr. Chilton's analysis, the water
of this spring is shown to contain 392.907 grains of
solid contents in the gallon. Its amount of carbonic
acid is somewhat less than is found in the Pavilion,
being 344.16 cubic inches in the gallon of water. This
spring is in the eastern part of the town, and not far
from the road leading to Schuylerville.

High Rock. — This spring, with its conical inclosure
of calcareous tufa, evidently the deposit of its own

SARATOGA SFRIXGS. 223

Avaters, deserves to be regarded among the interesting
curiosities of our country. The venerable Dr. Seaman
remarks, in reference to it, that if it " had been upon
the borders of the Lago d'Agnano, the noted Grotto
del Cane, which burdens ahnost every book which treats
upon the carbonic acid gas since the peculiar properties
of that 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 canvas, to the
admiration of the world, as one of its greatest curi-
osities."

This unique conical structure is composed of the
carbonates of lime and magnesia, with the oxide of
iron, and a portion of sand and clay. When broken,
it exhibits the impression of leaves and twigs of trees.
Its circumference at its base is about twenty-six feet,
and its perpendicular height four feet ; from the top of
the rock to the surface of the water, two feet ; depth
of water in the cavity of the rock, about seven and a
half feet. The hole at the top of the rock through which
the water is dipped is circular, and measures about ten
inches across.

As early as 1767, this spring was visited by Mr. Wm.
Johnson, who used its waters with benefit for gout, and
from this period it came rapidly into the notice and
regard of the colonists. In the years 1784 and 1785
some accommodations were constructed for invalids,
and about this period the springs known as Flat
Rock, the President, and Red Spring, first attracted
attention.

Dr. Steel, to whose "Analysis" I am indebted for
this history, remarks that " the extravagant stories told
by the first settlers of the astonishing effects of the
' High Rock' waters, in the cure of almost every
species of disease, are still remembered and repeated
by their too credulous descendants. This, in connec-
tion with the singular and mysterious character of the

224

SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

rock, continued to attach an importance to the waters,
in the eyes of the vulgar, to which no other fountain
will ever attain."

The temperature of the High Rock water is 48'' \ its
specific gravity, 1006.85, when the barometer stood at
29.05 inches — pure water being 1000. Analysis shows
that it contains 345.68 grains of solid ingredients, and
309 cubic inches of gaseous contents, to the gallon of
water. Each gallon holds in solution 5.58 grains of
carbonate of iron.

The Iodine, or, as it is sometimes called, Walton
Spring, contains, according to the examinations of Pro-
fessor Emmons, 3.5 grains of hydriodate of soda to the
gallon of water. Its saline ingredients do not differ
essentially from those of the neighboring fountains. Its
chalybeate impregnation is somewhat greater than the
water of the Congress Spring, but less than that of the
Putnam, Union, Pavilion, and others.

Its temperature is rendered at 47° Fahrenheit.

The Flat Rock, Hamilton, Columbian, and Wash-
ington Springs, of which Dr. Steel gives the analysis,
very nearly resemble each other, and those already de-
scribed, in their general saline and gaseous character.
The Flat Rock contains 5.39 grains of the carbonate of
iron to the gallon, the Hamilton 5.39, the Columbian
5.58, and the Washington 3.25.

Empire Spring. — This fountain is now attracting
considerable attention. The relatively larger portion
oi iodine, and smaller portions of iron and earthy salts,
contained in this water, in comparison with its neigh-
boring springs, suggest to the medical mind a prefer-
ence for it in the treatment of several formidable chronic
affections.

The following is Professor Emmons's analysis of one
gallon of the water : —

SARATOGA SPRINGS.

225

Chloride of sodium 269.696

Bicarbonate of lime 141.824

Bicarbonate of magnesia 41.984

Bicarbonate of soda 30.848

Hydriodate of soda or iodine 12.000

Bicarbonate of iron a trace.

496.352
Specific gravity 1039.

Saratoga Alum. — This is one of the Saratoga group
of comparatively recent development. Its analysis by
Dr. J. G. Pohle, of New York, which follows, is cal-
culated to give it a high position among its most
distinguished compeers: —

Chloride of sodium 565.300

Chloride of potassium 357

Chlorides of calcium and magnesia traces.

Bicarbonate of soda 6.752

Bicarbonate of lime 56.852

Bicarbonate of magnesia 20.480

Bicarbonate of iron 1.724

Sulphate of lime .448

Sulphate of magnesia .288

Sulphate of soda 2.500

Sulphate of potassa .370

Silicic acid 1.460

Alumina .380

Per gallon 656.911

Free carbonic acid gas 212 cubic inches.

Atmospheric air 4 " "

Pergallon 216 " "

It will be observed from this analysis that this water
is about ten per cent, greater in mineral properties
than the celebrated Congress Spring ; while it is four
times that of Baden-Baden in Austria, twice that of
Vichy in France, nearly three times greater than the
renowned Seltzer of Germany, and five times greater
than that of Aix-la-Chapelle in Prussia.

The Geyser, or ' ' Spouting Spring, ' ' on the Ball-
20

2 26 SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

ston road, one and a half miles south of the principal
hotels at Saratoga, is very remarkable for the amount
of its constituent ingredients, both solid and gaseous.
Prof. Chandler represents it as containing 991.546
grains of solid matters to the gallon, with 454.082 cubiS
inches of carbonic acid gas.

The Star, Halthorn, Excelsior, Seltzer, and Red
Spring all resemble, in the general character of their
waters, the springs of the famous Saratoga group just
described.

BALLSTON SPRINGS.

The village of Ballston is situated seven miles south-
west from Saratoga. It derives its name from the late
C. Eliphalet Ball, who with a number of his congrega-
tion settled near the site of the village at the time the
springs were first discovered. These mineral springs
are situated in a deep marshy valley, through which
passes a branch of the Kayaderosseras Creek. They
were discovered in 1769.

Of the springs composing the Ballston group of acid-
ulous chalybeate waters, the following may be men-
tioned : the Sa7is Soiici, Pa7-k, Lovj' s Well, the United
States, Franklin, and Fulton Chalybeate. Dr. Steel re-
marks that these waters evidently belong to the same
class with those at Saratoga; and if they do not con-
tain so large a portion of the saline properties as some
of the fountains at the latter place, which is very mani-
fest, both from the taste and the effects, they are, un-
questionably, entitled to rank among the best acid-
ulous chalybeate waters which this or any other country
affords.

In addition to the acidulous saline chalybeate waters
of Ballston Spa, there are several sulphurous springs
in the neighborhood, not regarded, however, as very
strong, which probably owe their peculiar character
to the decomposition of the sulphuret of iron which

BALLSTON SFRIiVGS.

227

abounds in the argillaceous slate formation common to
this region.

Sans Souci Spring cowtzins, by analysis, in one gal-
lon of its water —

Chloride of sodium 143-733 grains.

Bicarbonate of soda 12.66 "

Bicarbonate of magnesia 39-oi "

Carbonate of lime .. 43.407 "

Carbonate of iron 5.95 "

Hydriodate of soda 1.3 "

Silex I. "

247-15

The waters of Low" s Well are regarded as being
almost identical with those of the Sans Souci.

In the waters of the Park Well Dr. Steel demon-
strated the existence of 6|- grains of the carbonate of
iron in a gallon of the water \ a somewhat larger quan-
tity than is found in any of the other fountains.

The United States Spring, according to Dr. Beck's
analysis, contains in one pint of the water —

Chloride of sodium S3- 12 grains.

Carbonate of soda 2. 11 "

Carbonate of magnesia 0.72 "

Carbonate of lime, with a little oxide of iron 3.65 "

Sulphate of soda 0.22 "

Silica 1. 00 "

60.82 "
Carbonic acid, 30.50.
Temperature, 50° F., which does not vary through the year.

It will be seen, by comparing the analysis of this
with the Congress Spring, that the latter contains a
much larger amount, both of solid and gaseous con-
tents, than the former.

The Franklin Alineral Spring has been analyzed by
Prof. C. F. Chandler, with the following results : —

One U.S. gallon, 231 cubic inches, contains —

2 28 SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

Chloride of sodium 659.344 grains.

Chloride of potassium 33-93° "

Bromide of sodium 4-665 "

Iodide of sodium .235 "

Fluoride of calcium trace.

Bicarbonate of lithia 6.787 "

Bicarbonate of soda 94.604 "

Bicarbonate of magnesia 177.868 "

Bicarbonate of lime 202.332 "

Bicarbonate of strontia .002 "

Bicarbonate of baryta 1.231 "

Bicarbonate of iron 1.609 "

Sulphate of potassa .762 "

Phosphate of soda .011 "

Biborate of soda trace.

Alumina 263 "

Silica 735

Organic matter trace.

Total 1184.368

Carbonic acid gas 460.066 cubic inches.

Density 1.0115 "

Temperature 52°

CHAPTER XXXV.

NEW YORK MINERAL WATERS — CONTINUED.

Improper Use of the Saratoga Waters, and its Evils — Injurious
Advice and Errors of Opinion as to the Nature and Use of Mineral
Waters — Diseases for which the Saratoga Waters may be pre-
scribed— Albany Artesian Mineral Well — Reed's Mineral Spring —
Halleck's Spring, etc.

It is well remarked by Dr. Steel, long the resident
physician at Saratoga,* that "these waters are so gen-
erally used, and their effects so seldom injurious, par-
ticularly to persons in health, that almost every one
who has ever drank of them assumes the prerogative
of directing their use to others ; and were these di-
rections always the result of experience and observa-
tion, they certainly would be less objectionable; but
there are numerous persons that flock about the springs
during the drinking season without any knowledge of
the composition of the waters, and little or none of
their effects, who continue to dispose of their direc-
tions to the ignorant and unwary with no other effect
than to injure 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 amount
they drink ; and although many who are in health may,
and frequently do, swallow down enormous amounts
of the water with apparent impunity, it does not fol-

* Analysis of the Mineral Waters of Saratoga and Ballston.
20* ( 229 )

230

SPRINGS OF NE IV YORK.

low 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 extremities cold, the head painful and
dizzy, the bowels swollen and tender, and the whole
train of nervous 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."

The above sensible remarks of a gentleman long
accustomed to prescribing mineral waters, and entirely
familiar with their potent influences for good when
properly used, or for evil when improperly employed,
commend themselves with great force to invalids gener-
ally who resort to mineral fountains for relief.

The injury done to invalids at mineral springs by
hasty and well-intentioned but ignorant and inju-
dicious advice, both as to the applicabilities of the
waters and the method of using them, by persons they
may chance to meet, can scarcely be overrated. Vari-
ous instances have occurred of invalids being speedily
destroyed by improperly using mineral waters, under
the injudicious advice of ignorant and officious per-
sons, and still more frequently have diseases been
aggravated and confirmed through such reprehensible
ofticiousness, that might have been cured under sensi-
ble and judicious instructions. Besides, the idea that
is often spontaneously in the mind of the invalid, that
it is "only water" he is drinking, and that it can do
no harm if it does no good, is simply an imposition on
his own good sense, and upon the feeblest powers
of ratiocination. These impressions upon the mind,
vague though they may be, are nevertheless occasion-

SARATOGA WATERS— IMPROPER USES.

231

ally sufficiently strong to control the action. Such
views are most apt to find a lodgment in the minds of
those who have decided to altogether repudiate medi-
cine, commonly so called, and to seek their lost health
by the use of mineral waters, not remembering that
mineral waters are medicines, and could be of no ser-
vice if they were not. Under the false impression of
their non-medicinal nature, such persons will often
take into their stomachs, in the form of draught after
draught of sulphur waters, more medicinal material in
one day than a judicious physician would give them in
pill or potion in an entire week.

It was such persistent abuse of mineral waters on the
Continent that induced Henry IV. of France to decree
a royal edict that no person should enter upon the use
of a mineral water in his dominion until his case had
been professionally examined and the suitableness and
manner of using the water prescribed.

When Americans shall have acquired more prudence
upon this subject, and learned to inquire more care-
fully into the adaptedness of mineral waters to their
diseases, before committing themselves to their use, far
more good will be derived by the invalid; our mineral
waters will be appreciated, and their character better
established in public confidence.

DISEASES FOR WHICH THE SARATOGA WATERS
MAY BE PRESCRIBED.

In reference to the proper manner of using the Sara-
toga waters, as well as to the diseases for which they
may be prescribed, I shall confine my remarks to a few
general observations having reference to the usual proper
use of such agents, knowing that particular directions
for the individual case can be most prudently and safely
given to the patient by experienced practitioners resi-
dent at the springs, and after such careful personal
investigation of the case, and with such discriminating

232

SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

views of its pathology, as personal examination can
alone, in most cases, satisfactorily determine.

The entire group of the Saratoga and Ballston waters
may properly be regarded, as I have before stated, as
distinctly belonging to the saline acidulous class, with
chalybeate salts so prominent in some of them as to
modify, in an important degree, their influence upon
the animal economy. Their prominent therapeutic
effects are those of active aperient and diuretic action.

A numerous class of visitors at mineral springs are
those who are rather threatened with, than actually
laboring under, a distinctly located disease. As promi-
nent in this class of visitors, we find those who suffer
under a preternatural fullness of the blood-vessels, and
especially of the veins, with a tendency to congestion
in some of the large internal organs, with a sense of
fullness or heaviness in the abdominal regions. This
conditioTn is often occasioned from slow and imperfect
digestion, and, consequently, by too long retention of
food in the stomach, from local and general accumula-
tions in the large intestines, and not uncommonly from
an engorged liver or spleen, with a sluggish circulation,
and sometimes a throbbing sensation in the portal sys-
tem. This morbid state of the system is made to bear
different names as one or another organ seems to be
more especially affected.

The morbid tendencies of this condition are very
numerous. Even in its incipiency it is prone, from
hygienic or morbid causes, to run into obstinate con-
gestions, irritations, or actual inflammations. Some-
times it results in cephalic or pectoral accumulations,
giving occasion for apoplexy, asthma, etc. In other
cases, the system seems to make a violent external
effort to relieve its internal oppressions through an
acute attack of rheumatism or gout ; or by eruptions
upon the surface, carbuncles, boils, or erysipelatous in-
flammations. The most common winding up of this
general plethoric condition is a confirmed dyspepsia,

DISEASES— GENERAL OBSER VA TIONS.

233

attended with faulty and irregular secretions from the
liver, ultimately giving rise to intestinal or thoracic
neuralgia.

Space will not allow me to trace out the various
and multiform disorders and disorganizations that may,
and often do, result from the venous plethora and ab-
dominal accumulations alluded to ; nor is this, per-
haps, the proper place to do so. I remark, however,
that, in the condition of the system alluded to, and
especially in its early stages, the Saratoga waters, and
of choice the more purgative of them, afford a remedy
entitled to great confidence, and, generally, speedily
beneficial in its effects.

In such cases they should be so used as to produce
copious evacuations from the bowels for two or three
weeks. The more purgative waters, such as the Con-
gress Spring, being taken early in the morning to pro-
duce this effect, the patient may, with advantage, use
small quantities of some of the more ferruginated waters
in the evening, such as the Putnam, or High Rock
Spring.

In recent attacks of biliary affections, unattended
with fever or general excitement, the Congress waters
have proved very beneficial. In such cases, Dr. Steel,
long a resident physician at the springs, says he was in
the habit of giving a few grains of calomel or blue pill
at night, and following it in the morning with a suf-
ficient quantity of water to move the bowels briskly two
or three times. A few doses of this description usually
put the bowels in a situation to be more easily acted
upon by the water alone. In the more advanced stage
of bilious affections, says Dr. Steel, "where the organi-
zation of the liver and other viscera has materially
suffered, and the disposition to general hydrops, in-
dicated by the enlargement of the extremities, fullness
of the abdomen, etc., the waters are, all of them, mani-
festly injurious, and ought not to be admitted, even as
an adjunctive remedy."

234

SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

In the various dyspeptic depravities these waters have
long maintained a high and well-deserved reputation.
The Congress Spring is most generally used for these
affections. It is best taken in the morning for such
cases, about an hour before breakfast, in sufficient
quantity to move the bowels gently once or twice. For
this purpose, from two to four or five tumblerfuls,
taken at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes apart, will
generally be sufficient.

In calculous or nephritic complaints, these Avaters have
been long employed with great advantage, and well-
attested instances are given of their effecting complete
cures in such cases. The water, in such diseases,
should be so drunk as to keep the bowels gently open
and to keep up an increased secretion from the kidneys.
In such cases, the use of the warm bath is an important
auxiliary. Its temperature should be about ioo° Fahr.,
and the patient remain in it from thirty to sixty minutes.

In chronic rhctunatism, Dr. Steel asserts that the
waters have been long employed \vith advantage. In
such cases, he gives preference to the Congress Spring.

For arthritis or gout, the waters are regarded as an
uncertain remedy. In the early or forming stages of
the disorder they may prove beneficial, but when the
disease has become confirmed, and is of long continu-
ance, the effects of the water are doubtful, and cases
have occurred where their use induced a recurrence of
the paroxysm.

In ill-conditioned ulcers and cutaneous eruptions, as
well as in the enfeebled condition of the system follow-
ing z. protracted mercurial course, the use of the waters
has proved very beneficial.

Scrofula is another disease in which the Saratoga
waters have been often used, and Dr. Steel remarks
that "experience abundantly sanctions the belief of
their utility in that complaint."

The large proportion of iodine which Professor
Emmons detects in the Empire Spring seems clearly

ALBANY ARTESIAN MINERAL WELLS.

235

to indicate a preference for that fountain in the treat-
ment of this class of affections.

In dropsical affections \hQ Saratoga waters should only
be prescribed under careful discrimination. When the
disease depends upon long-continued organic derange-
ment, they will prove injurious. On the other hand,
when the affection is recent, and dependent upon the
want of sufficient action in the absorbent vessels, they
will be beneficial, and their use in such cases will prob-
ably result in removing the morbid accumulations.

Paralysis, under the active purgative operation of
the waters, is sometimes benefited.

Chlorosis and other complaints peculiar to females
are often treated by these waters with good success. In
such cases, the waters in which the tonic properties most
abound are to be preferred, and much advantage will
generally be derived from frequent bathing, and pleas-
urable exercise unconnected with exhaustion or fatigue.

In phthisical complaints that arise from a primary
affection of the lungs, the Saratoga waters are injurious,
and ought not to be used. But in congestions of the
bronchial surfaces, as well as in translated or sympa-
thetic affections from abdominal origin making a lodg-
ment in the chest, and unattended with any general
strumous tendency, the waters of the Empire Spring
might, probably, be safely and advantageously em-
ployed.

Albany Artesian Mineral Wells. — Messrs. Boyd
and McCullock, in boring for pure water to supply
their brewery, struck at the depth of four hundred and
eighty feet a saline water abounding in the carbonates
and carbonic acid, and emitting at the same time car-
buretted hydrogen or burning gas. On continuing the
boring to the depth of six hundred feet, the flow of the
carbonated water and gas continued. Another boring
was effected to the same depth, a few rods from the
first, with the same results and the singular addition of

236 SFjRINGS of new YORK.

the escape of sulphuretted hydrogen gas from a small
stream of water that was struck at thirty feet below the
surface. From this, Dr. Beck concludes that "in the
same slate formation, though at different depths, sul-
phuretted hydrogen, carburetted hydrogen, and car-
bonic acid gases are abundantly evolved." The same
writer thinks it probable that carbonated waters might
be found by boring at any point on the range from
Saratoga to Albany.

The temperature of the water of the Albany well is
51° to 52° Fahr. Its specific gravity is 1.00900.

Dr. Beck's analysis of one pint of water shows the
following results : —

Chloride of sodium 59.00 grains.

Carbonate of soda 5.00 "

Carbonate of lime 4.00 "

Carbonate of magnesia 1.50 "

Carbonate of iron, with a little silica i.oo "

Chloride of calcium 0.50 "

71.00 "
Gaseous contents, 28 cubic inches.

Reed's Mineral Spring, in Washington County,
is an acidulous spring, not very dissimilar from the
waters of Saratoga, but containing less gas, and con-
sequently less sparkling. Its taste is somewhat acidu-
lous.

Halleck's Spring, in Oneida County, and near the
village of Hampton, was discovered by boring to the
depth of one hundred and six feet into a solid rock.

Professor Noyes analyzed this water, and obtained
from one pint the following results : —

Chloride of sodium 78.00 grains.

Chloride of calcium 13.00 "

Chloride of magnesia 4.00 "

Sulphate of lime 5.00 "

100.00 "

CHALYBEATE SPRINGS.

237

This spring is said to evolve carburetted or burning
gas in considerable quantities, with a small proportion
of carbonic acid. It would seem from the composition
of its waters to belong to the class of weak brine or
salt springs.

Near Catskill, in Greene County, and in Rensselaer
County, a mile from the village of Sandlake, strong
chalybeate springs are found.

Other springs of the same character are found in
Delaware, Dutchess, and Columbia Counties.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

NEW YORK SULPHUR SPRINGS.

Sharon Springs — Avon Springs — Richfield Springs.

Waters to some extent impregnated with sulphur
exist in almost every great section of the State of New
York ; but few of these springs, however, have been
extensively improved for public use, or are so strongly
charged with gas and rich in solid medicinal materials
as to make them objects of more than local interest.
There are, however, several strong exceptions to this
general remark, and especially the waters of the Sharon
and Avon Springs, which have acquired quite an ex-
tended reputation.

As is found to be the case in Virginia, the sulphur
springs of New York are generally on, or not very
remote from, the lines of fracture or disturbance in
the strata of the earth from subterranean causes. The
Sharon is said to be the strongest exception to this
general law of their location.

Mr. Hall, who made a geological survey of a portion
of this State, remarks that springs which issue from
different classes of rock are marked by a general
character and aspect which indicate their relative
geological positions. "In the strata of the Niagara
group the water has usually a dark appearance in the
spring, though it is limpid and differs essentially from
the waters of the salt group, while in higher rocks it is
not only less copious, but it is often marked by a black
(238)

SHARON SPRINGS.

239

and red deposit, as well as sometimes a whitish stain
upon the rock or at the bottom of the spring." These
springs, however widely separated, have been observed
to have a temperature somewhat above the common
springs of their neighborhood. The same fact has
been observed in reference to the sulphurous springs so
abundantly found in Virginia, going to show a com-
mon cause for the general thermalization of such waters.

SHARON SPRINGS.

These springs are in the county of Schoharie, and
near the village of Leesville. According to Dr. Beck,
they arise from pyritous slates, underlying strata of
Helderberg limestone.

The two springs most noted are called White Sulphur
and Magnesia.

The White Sulphur has been analyzed by Dr. J. R.
Chilton, of the city of New York, who obtained the
following results from one pint of the water : —

Sulphate of magnesia 2.65 grains.

Sulphate of lime 6.98 "

Chloride of sodium 0.14 "

Chloride of magnesium 0.15 "

Hydrosulphiiret of sodium 1 ^ <■

Hydrosulphuret of calcium J "^

10.06 "
Sulphuretted hydrogen gas, i cubic inch.

Dr. Beck remarks " that sulphate of lime in small
fresh perfect crystals is found near the springs in con-
siderable abundance."

Dr. Bell remarks, after quoting the analysis given
above, that the "solid contents of a gallon of this
water,* as determined by the same chemist, are 160.94
grains, and the amount of sulphuretted hydrogen gas

* Mineral and Thermal Springs.

2 40

NEW YORK SULPHUR SPRINGS.

1 6 inches. The results, as reported by Dr. North,
are at variance with the preceding table of reduction
to a pint made by Dr. Beck, still from Dr. Chilton's
analysis,"

The Magnesia Spring, according to the analysis of
Professor Reed, of New York, contains the following
ingredients in one gallon of water: —

Bicarbonate of magnesia 30.5 grains.

Sulphate of magnesia 22.7 "

Sulphate of lime 76.0 "

Hydrosulphates of magnesia and lime 0.5 "

Chloride of sodium and magnesia 3.0 "

132.7 "
Sulphuretted hydrogen gas, 3.3 inches.

In looking to the relative character of the Sharon
waters, we find them most to resemble the Avon Springs
of New York, and the White Sulphur Springs of Vir-
ginia, and in a general way they will be found adapted
to the same class of diseases for which the latter waters
are beneficially used.

The hotel accommodations for visitors at Sharon are
represented as extensive and agreeable, with pleasant
promenades through well-shaded woodlands contiguous
to the spring, and the enjoyment of extensive and
interesting views of the surrounding country.

Travelers to Sharon, either from the north, east, or
south, should make Albany a point where they take
the Binghamton Railroad to Palatine Bridge, and
thence by stage-coaches over the mountains to the
springs.

AVON SPRINGS.

These springs are situated in the western part of the
State, on the eastern branch of the Genesee River, and
near the village of Avon. They are about eighteen
miles from the city of Rochester, and twenty-four from

A VON SPRINGS.

241

Canandaigua. They are connected with Rochester by
a daily line of stage-coaches. The Genesee Valley
canal-boats also land passengers within nine or ten
miles of the springs, whence they are conveyed in
coaches to their destination.

The Indians of that region, it is said, knew of and
appreciated these springs as "medicine-water" many
years ago. The first recorded use of them by the white
settlers was in 1792, when they were successfully used
for a cutaneous affection. In 1795 we hear of their
curing rheumatism of long standing, that had resisted
successfully the skill of intelligent physicians. The
accommodations at and near the springs are very good,
and sufficiently extensive for a large number of visitors.
These consist of three hotels near the springs, and two
at the village of Avon, from which a connection is kept
up with the springs by omnibuses.

There were but two springs known at Avon until the
year 1835, and these were designated as the Upper and
Lower Springs. About that time a new one was dis-
covered, which is known as the New Bath Spring.
This new fountain is said to be thirty feet deep, the
water in it rising through a calciferous slate.

An analysis of one pint of the water of this spring
yields the following results : —

Carbonate of lime 3.37 grains.

Sulphate of lime 0.44 "

Sulphate of magnesia i.oi "

Sulphate of soda 4.84 "

Chloride of sodium 0.71 "

11.87 "
Sulphuretted hydrogen, 3.91 cubic inches.
Temperature of the water, 50° Fahr. ; specific gravity, 1.00356.

The Upper, or, as it is now called, the Middle Spring,
is about one hundred and fifty yards from the one just
described. Its temperature is 51° Fahrenheit.

An analysis of one pint of the water, according to

242

NEW YORK SULPHUR SPRINGS.

the investigations of Professor Hadley, shows the fol-
lowing results : —

Carbonate of lime i.oo grains.

Sulphate of lime 10.50 "

Sulphate of magnesia 1.25 "

Sulphate of soda 2.00 "

Chloride of sodium 2.30 "

17.05 "

Sulphuretted hydrogen 12.00 "

Carbonic acid 5.60 "

17.60 "

The New Spring, Dr. Salisbury states, was formerly
a large pool some fifty feet in diameter, and served as
a bathing-place for the early inhabitants. It has been
more prized as a curative agent than the others, and is
more largely resorted to.

In one pint of this water Dr. J. R. Chilton found —

Carbonate of lime 3.58 grains.

Chloride of calcium 1.05 "

Sulphate of lime 7.17 "

Sulphate of magnesia 6.21 "

Sulphate of soda 1.71 "

19.72 "

Of gaseous contents: —

Sulphate of hydrogen 1.32 grains.

Carbonic acid 0.50 "

Nitrogen 0.67 "

And a minute fraction of atmospheric air.

This is a uniform and very bold spring, discharging
at every season of the year about fifty-four gallons a
minute. Its temperature is 45° to 47° Fahr. , and its
specific gravity 1.0018. Its taste, while decidedly sul-
phurous, is slightly bitter and saline.

It will be observed that this water contains less sul-
phuretted hydrogen, and more solid contents, especially
of the purging salts, than the Upper or Middle Spring.

In addition to the springs enumerated, there are three

AVOJV WATERS.

243

Others, called Iodine or Sylvan Springs, about two miles
from the Lower Spring. In these the chloride of sodium
strongly predominates, and hence their saltish taste.-
One of them has but a slight sulphurous impregnation,
and somewhat resembles in taste the Congress water
after its gas has escaped. We have an analysis of one
of these springs, which shows it to contain iodide of
sodium, with heavy impregnations of the chlorides of
sodium and magnesium, and the sulphate of lime.

In one gallon of the water of this spring Dr. J. R.
Chilton found the following ingredients : —

Chloride of magnesium 62.400 grains.

Chloride of solium 97-440 "

Sulphate of lime 80.426 "

Carbonate of magnesia 15.974 "

Carbonate of lime 26.800 "

Vegetable matter 240 "

Iodide of sodium.

296.240 "

Sulphuretted hydrogen 20.684 cubic in.

Carbonic acid 4-992 "

25.676 "

In comparing the waters of these springs with the
waters of the White Sulphur, in Virginia, it will be
observed that the former contains an appreciably larger
quantity of lime than the Virginia springs, and that
their sulphate of soda and sulphate of magnesia are
somewhat in excess of the Virginia waters. The
chloride of sodium, existing so largely in the Iodine
or Sylvan Spring, and to an appreciable extent in the
Lower and New Spring, is discovered only in the very
minute portion of about half a grain to the gallon in
the Virginia White Sulphur.

Many peculiar operative effects of these waters, as
noticed by Dr. Salisbury in his valuable little work
on the Avon Springs, are strikingly the same that I
noticed in this and the early editions of my work as

244

NEW YORK' SULPHUR SPRINGS.

distinguishing the operations of the White Sulphur
waters. Among the most striking of these are the
facts noticed by Dr. S. of the similarity of the action
of these waters and that of calomel, and that they
sometimes produce copious salivation. As is the case
with the White Sulphur, the most valuable effects of the
Avon waters are found in their alterative or changing
effects, and these effects are best promoted by using them
in such doses as do not much increase the natural evacu-
ations of the body. Like the AVhite Sulphur, the quantity
of sulphuretted hydrogen gas which the Avon waters
contain is too large for its kindly effects in many cases,
and hence Dr. S. remarks that after it has been heated,
and therefore deprived of a portion of its gas, it be-
comes more aperient, and that it may be used in this
way ''when the inflammatory diathesis prevails to such
an extent as to resist its beneficial and successful ad-
ministration in its natural state." The proper ^r^^//^-
ation of the amount of sulphuretted hydrogen gas to the
wants and ability of the system to bear it, especially in
commencing the use of the water, is a practical matter
of great importance in the use of such waters, and one
to which I have directed a careful attention for many
years.*

The Richfield Springs are in the county of Otsego.
They are waters that have come into popular notice
within the last few years, and are now largely visited.

The analysis of these waters by Prof. Reed shows
that one gallon of the water contains —

Bicarbonate of magnesia 20 grains.

Bicarbonate of lime 10 "

Chloride of sodium and magnesia 1.5 "

Sulphate of magnesia 30 "

Hydrosulphate of magnesia and lime 2 "

Sulphate of lime 20 "

Sulphuretted hydrogen gas per gallon 26.6 inches.

* See chapter vi., on the Relative Virtues of the Saline and
Gaseous Contents of. the White Sulphur Water, etc.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

NEW YORK SULPHUR AND ACIDULOUS SPRINGS.

Clifton Springs — Chittenango Springs- — Messina Sulphur Springs —
Manlius Springs- — Auburn Springs — Chappaqua Springs — Harrow-
gate Spring — Spring at Troy — Newburg Spring — Springs in Dutch-
ess and Columbia Counties — Catskill Spring — Nanticoke Spring —
Dryden Springs — Rochester Spring — Springs in Monroe County:
Gates, Mendon, and Ogden — Verona Spring — Saquoit Springs —
Springs in Niagara County — Seneca or Deer Lick Springs — Oak
Orchard Acid Springs — Byron Acid Springs — Lebanon Spring —
Adirondack Spring.

In addition to the two principal sulphurous springs
of Sharon and Avon already noticed, there are numer-
ous others of less public notoriety. The first of these I
shall mention is —

Clifton Springs. — They are situated in the county
of Ontario, between Vienna and Canandaigua. In
importance they should, probably, rank next to Sharon
and Avon. The odor and taste of these waters are dis-
tinctly sulphurous. Their temperature is 51° Fahr.
These waters, Dr. Beck asserts, have their origin in
hydraulic limestone, underlying a stratum of common
limestone. There are here several springs, one of
which is very bold and yields a large amount of water.
No analysis of these waters has been given to the
public, that I am aware of.

Chittenango Springs are in the county of Madi-
son, near Chittenango Creek. Two springs here have
attracted attention ; their temperature is 49° Fahr.
They have been ascertained to contain the sulphates

(245)

246 SULPHUR SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

and carbonates of lime, sulphate of magnesia, chloride
of sodium, with sulphuretted hydrogen and carbonic
acid gases. Dr. Beck remarks that these waters are
highly esteemed in many cases of disease, and, their
location being very eligible, he expresses the opinion
that when they are better known they will be much
resorted to.

Messina Sulphur Springs are situated three miles
northeast of Syracuse, and one mile from the Erie
Canal. The temperature of their water is 50° Fahr.,
and its taste strongly sulphurous. It is said to have
been used with good effects in many cases.

An analysis of the water shows it to contain, in one
pint —

Carbonate of lime i-8s grains.

Sulphate of lime 8.55 "

Sulphate of magnesia 1.36 "

Chloride of calcium .' 1.33 "

13.09 "

Manlius Springs are situated in Onondaga County.
They are slightly saline in taste, and are impregnated
in but slight degree with sulphuretted hydrogen gas.
They have acquired some local reputation as a reme-
dial agent.

In the neighborhood of these springs there is a small
sulphurous lake, known by the name of Lake Sodom.
We are told by Dr. Beck that the depth of this lake
gradually increases from its northern outlet from
twenty-five to one hundred and sixty-eight feet, and
that water drawn from this depth is found to be highly
impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen. The color
of the water in this lake is a deep green, from which
it is sometimes called Green Pond.

Auburn Springs. — There are two springs that bear
this name, separated several miles from each other.

CHAPPAQUA AND HARROWGATE SPRINGS. 247

One of these is situated two miles north of the village
of Auburn j the other four miles west of the same vil-
lage. An analysis of the latter spring, by Dr. Chilton,
shows the following ingredients in one pint of the
water : —

Sulphate of lime iS-oo grains.

Sulphate of magnesia 3.20 "

Chloride of magnesium .'. 0.25 "

Chloride of sodium 0.75 "

19.20 "

Sulphuretted hydrogen, 1.5 cubic inches.

In the valley of the Hudson, Dr. Beck mentions
numerous sulphurous springs. They are found from
the neighborhood of Sing Sing to Fort Miller, a dis-
tance of one himdred and fifty miles.

The Chappaqua Spring is four miles from Sing Sing.
It holds in solution sulphate of lime, chloride of cal-
cium, and the muriates of iron and magnesia.

Harrowgate Spring is near Greenbush, in Rens-
selaer County.

There is also a sulphurous spring in the northern end
of the city of Troy, in Rensselaer County.

There are several sulphur springs in the county of
Albany, one of them very near the city of Albany.

The Newburg Spring, slightly impregnated with
sulphuretted hydrogen, is in the county of Orange.

In Dutchess and Columbia Counties there are several
springs. The most noted one in Dutchess is near
Ameniaville. In Columbia there is one on the farm
of Mr. McNaughton, between the Shaker Village and

248 SULPHUR SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

the Lebanon Springs, and another near the village of
Kinderhook.

The Catskill Spring is two miles from the village
of Catskill, in the county of Greene. There are several
others in the same neighborhood.

In the southwestern part of the State we find the
Nanticoke Spring, in the county of Broome. It has
acquired considerable reputation. Dryden Springs are
in the town of Dryden, in Tompkins County, ten
miles from Ithaca. They have acquired reputation
in their region of country, and are considerably re-
sorted to.

Rochester Spring, otherwise known as Long77t2iir^ s
Sulphur Well, in the city of Rochester, is much used
by the inhabitants of the city. It rises through a
boring of two hundred feet in depth. It deposits,
when heated to 100° Fahr., carbonate of lime and
sulphur. Its temperature at the surface is usually 52°
Fahr., and its specific gravity 1.00407. One pint of
the water contains —

Carbonates of lime and magnesia, with a trace of iron. 1.48 grains.

Chloride of sodium 6.52 " "

Sulphate of soda 6.99 "

14.99 "
Sulphuretted hydrogen, 2.16 cubic inches.
Carbonic acid in small quantity.

In the county of Monroe are the sulphurous springs
of Gates, Mention, and Ogden, at all of which there
are suitable bathing arrangements and proper accom-
modations for visitors.

Verona Spring is in Oneida County, fourteen miles
from Utica. Professor No yes's analysis of the water of
this spring shows that one pint contains —

ACID SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

249

Chloride of calcium, with chloride of magnesium... 8.50 grains.

Sulphate of lime 7.50 "

Chloride of sodium 90.00 "

106.00 "
Sulphuretted hydrogen is very abundant in the water, amounting
almost to complete saturation.

About nine miles from Utica are tlie Saquoit Springs.
Their waters are very highly impregnated with carbu-
retted hydrogen, and contain, in considerable quanti-
ties, the chlorides of sodium and magnesium, with a
small portion of the sulphate of lime and a trace of
iron. So abundant is the carburetted hydrogen in the
water, that it is collected, conducted through tubes,
and kept constantly burning.

In Niagara County there are several sulphur springs;
among them may be mentioned those near the Falls
of Niagara, those near Lockport, and those also in the
neighborhood of Lewistown.

The Seneca or Deer Lick Springs are in Erie County,
four miles from Buffalo. They hold in solution car-
bonates of lime, soda, and magnesia, with sulphate of
lime. They abound richly in sulphuretted hydrogen.

We are told that sulphurous springs are also found
in the northern part of New York, in Lewis, Clinton,
and St. Lawrence Counties.

ACID SPRINGS OF NEW YORK,

In addition to the acidulo-saline and sulphurous
waters already described, there are in New York sev-
eral acidulous springs. The acid quality of these waters
is owing to their holding in solution an excess of sul-
phuric acid, which is readily detected both by their
taste and by chemical reagents.
22

25°

ACID SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

These waters are found to be so largely impregnated
with iron in the form of a protosulphate, and with
sulphate of ahuinna, as to entitle them to be called
chalybeate or ahnn waters with as much propriety as
■they are called acidulous. Similar springs in Vir-
ginia are uniformly known by the name of alum
springs.

Acidulated aluminous springs, partaking of the same
general character of the acid springs of New York,
which we are about to consider, are found in every
neighborhood in certain geological districts in Vir-
ginia, and especially on the eastern and western slopes
of the Alleghany chain of mountains, through the en-
tire district there known as the great "Spring Region."

Fountains of the same general character are found
in Pennsylvania, and also in the eastern portion of
Tennessee^ and will probably be discovered along the
entire course of the great Appalachian upheavings, or
axis of disturbance from the extreme north to the allu-
vial plains of the Gulf of Mexico.

The principal springs of this class in New York are
the Oak OrcJiard Springs. They are eight in number.
Their situation is in Genesee County, eight miles south-
east from Lockport, and about six miles from the Erie
Canal, at the village of Medina. These waters have
been analyzed by Professor Emmons and Dr. Chilton.

Professor Emmons's examination of Spring No. i
shows that one pint of the water contains the following
ingredients : —

Free sulphuric acid 3i-5o grains.

Sulphate of protoxide of lime i9-5o

Sulphate of lime 4-So "

Sulphate of magnesia 2.00 "

Silica 0.33 "

Organic matter 1.33 "

Equal to 473.28 grains to the gallon.

59.16

OAK ORCHARD SPRINGS.

251

Spring No. 2 was found to contain but 24.25 grains
of free acid and solid ingredients to the pint, and No.
3 but 19.33.

Dr. Cliilton, by an analysis of one gallon of the water
of Spring No. i, arrives at results strikingly different
from those of Professor Emmons. His researches* show
one gallon to contain —

Free sulphuric acid 82.96 grains.

Sulphate of lime 39.60

Phosphate of iron 14-32

Sulphate of alumina 9.68

Sulphate of magnesia 8.28

Silica 1.04

Organic extractive matter 3.28

159.16 "

Equal to about 10 grains to the pint.

The difference in the amount of these waters in the
several fountains during wet and dry weather is always
noticeable, and in some instances is very remarkable.
Generally they are surface springs, the waters obtain-
ing their peculiar impregnations by percolating through
the peculiar argillite slate in which they are found.
Whatever difficulties there may be in accounting for
the peculiar impregnations of some mineral waters,
there are none in reference to this class, for portions
of the slaty rock through which the waters percolate,
when immersed in common water, produce the very
same impregnations that are found in the water in the
pools in which it is collected for use. Many persons
in the South use at their homes the Virginia alum
waters prepared in this pro re iiata way from the rock
obtained from the various alum fountains.

Taking Dr. Chilton's analysis as the standard, the
Oak Orchard Springs more resemble the Rockbridge
alum waters in Virginia than any others to which they

* Mineral and Thermal Springs of the United States and Canada.

252

ACID SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

can be compared. The resemblance is only striking
in this, however, that they both contain free sulphuric
acid, alumina, and iron in marked proportions; the
sulphuric acid, lime, iron, and magnesia in the New
York springs being greater than in the Virginia waters,
while the alumina and silica are more than fifty per
cent, greater in the latter. In addition to these ingre-
dients, common to both waters, the Rockbridge Spring
contains chlorate of sodium, crenate of ammonia, and
free carbonic acid, ingredients not found in the Oak
Orchard Springs.

As therapeutic agents, this class of waters are tonic
and astringent. In enfeebled conditions of the digest-
ive and uterine functions, — in cases of pure atony or
feebleness unaccompanied by inflammation or irritation
in any of the organs, — in exhaustion from previous dis-
ease, where the chief complaint is debility, — and in
cases of ancEviia or poverty of the blood, when uncon-
nected with obstinate visceral obstructions, they are
safely and beneficially prescribed. In passive hemor-
rhages, long-continued intermittents, and dropsical ef-
fusions, unattended with organic obstructions, and in
leucorrhoea and chlorosis, they are often beneficial.
In chronic diarrhoea, as well as in chronic irritations
and debility of the kidneys, bladder, and urethra, they
are usefully employed. The Virginia waters of this
class have proven eminently remedial in scrofula; in-
deed, no remedy is now attracting so much attention
for this formidable disease, in the Southern country, as
the alum waters. Upon this particular subject, as well
as for a more general notice of the therapeutic range of
such waters, I refer the reader to what has been said
under the head of the Rockbridge Alum Sprhigs.

Dr. S. P. White* thinks favorably of the Oak
Orchard Spring waters in some of the cutaneous dis-

* Paper read before the New York Academy of Medicine in Decem-
ber, 1848. Vide " Mineral and Thermal Springs of the United States,"
etc.

BYRON AND LEBANON SPRINGS.

253

eases, and in the colliquative sweats of hectic fever.
He regards it as worthy of a trial in the phosphatic
diathesis, in colica pictonum, and asthma, and also in
chronic laryngitis, pharyngitis, and chronic conjunc-
tivitis.

Dr. White recommends that this water be taken in
"about a wineglassful, diluted with simple water, three
times a day." This dose is much smaller than I have
been accustomed to recommend in the use of similar
waters. The practice found most beneficial with the
Virginia waters of the same general character is to use
from two to six half-pint glasses in the course of the
twenty-four hours.

At Clifton Springs, twelve miles from Geneva, there
is an acid spring. I have not seen an analysis of it.

Byron Acid or Sour Springs are the names given
to two acidulous springs in the town of Byron, Genesee
County. One of these springs is near the Byron Hotel,
and is remarkable for the great quantity of acid con-
tained in its waters. It is a stream of considerable
boldness, so much so as to be sufficient to operate a
grist-mill.

Dr. Beck describes this water as intensely sour,
transparent and colorless, and of the specific gravity of
1. 1 1304 at 60° Fahr. Its saline matter, which is small,
consists of silica and alumina, with a small quantity of
oxide of iron and lime. Dr. Beck remarks that "this
is a^nearly pure, though dilute, sulphuric acid, and not
a solution of acid salts as has been supposed, for the
bases are in too minute a proportion to warrant the
latter opinion."

Lebanon Spring belongs to the thermal class of
waters. It is in the county of Columbia. The bath-
ing here- is very delightful, the temperature of the water
being constantly 73° Fahrenheit. Its mineral impreg-
nation is scarcely noticeable, being only a grain and a
22*

254

ACID SPRINGS OF NEW YORK.

quarter in a pint. So abundant is the supply of this
thermal water that it is employed to operate two or
three mills erected at no great distance from its source.

The Adirondack: Spring was discovered in 1868.
It is situated in the village of Whitehall, forty miles
north of Saratoga, at the head of Lake Champlain.

It has been analyzed by Prof. C. Collier, of Vermont
University, who reports that one gallon of it contains —

Acids.

Carbonic acids, free 31.861 grains.

Carbonic acids, combined 22.591

Sulphuric acid 6.594

Chlorine 8.701

Bases.

Oxide of iron 3-129

Oxide of manganese traces.

Lime 14.970

Magnesia 7-914

Alumina traces.

Alkalies.

Potassa 3-623

Soda 10.602

Lithia „ oog

Silica 742

iio.6g5
Temperature, 52° Fahr.

Sulphate of lime ii-i34

Carbonate of lime 18.543

Carbonate of magnesia 16.618

Carbonate of iron 5-040

Carbonate of manganese traces.

Carbonate of potash 5-317

Carbonate of soda 5-135

Carbonate of lithia 023

Chloride of sodium i4-340

Alumina traces.

Silica 742 "

Free carbonicacid 67.275 cubic in.

The analysis shows the water to be a saline chalybeate,
and of promising therapeutic character.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

SPRINGS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Bedford Springs — Gettysburg Spring — Frankfort Mineral Springs —
Chalybeate Spring near Pittsburg — York Springs — Carlisle Springs
— Perry County Springs — Doubling Gap and Chalybeate Springs
— Fayette Spring — Bath Chalybeate Spring — Blossburg Spring —
Ephrata Springs — Yellow Springs — Caledonia Springs.

Pursuing the plan I have adopted of introducing the
States somewhat in respect to the extent and impor-
tance of their mineral waters, I next notice the mineral
springs of Pennsylvania; and first, as holding the high-
est rank among her mineral fountains, the

BEDFORD SPRINGS.

The strong mineral impregnation of the Bedford
waters, their valuable therapeutic effects, the high
mountain altitude in which they are situated, together
with the delightful summer climate and v^ery pleasant
mountain scenery of their neighborhood, combine to
make them a place of large, pleasant, and useful resort,
alike to the seekers of health and the votaries of pleasure.
They are in the county of Bedford, and two miles from
the village of Bedford, one hundred miles west of Har-
risburg, and one hundred and thirty miles northwest
from Baltimore; they are less than one hundred miles
east of Pittsburg, and one hundred and thirty north-
west from Washington.

The principal spring is known as Anderson^ s ; the

(255)

256 SPRINGS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Others are called Sweet, Sulphur, Chalybeate, Limestone,
and Fletcher'' s or Upper Spring.

Anderson's Spring is a saline chalybeate water. Its
most active ingredients are sulphate of magnesia and
carbonate of iron ; the former exists in the water in the
large proportion of 80 grains to the gallon, the latter in
that of 5 grains. Dr. Church, who analyzed this water
in 1825, states that "the water is clear, lively, and
sparkling. At 10 a.m. on the 28th of May, the tem-
perature of the water in the spring was 58° Fahr. , while
that of the surrounding atmosphere was 73° of the
same scale. Its specific gravity is 1029. It has a pecu-
liar saline taste, resembling a weak solution of Epsom
salts in water, impregnated with carbonic acid, and
exhales no perceptible odor. On exposure in an open
vessel to the air, it becomes vapid, but does not become
turbid or deposit a sediment. The water deposits car-
bonate of iron on those substances over which it con-
stantly flows. Limestone, iron ore, calcareous and sili-
cious substances abound about the spring."

Dr. Church's analysis of one quart of the water shows
the following results: —

Sulphate of magnesia, or Epsom salts 20 grains.

Sulphate of lime , 3I "

Muriate of soda 22- "

Muriate of lime S "

Carbonate of iron t.^ "

Carbonate of lime 2 "

Loss I "

31 "

Carbonic acid gas, iZh cubic inches.

The Sweet Springs, according to Dr. Church, "are
two in number, and issue from fissures in slate rocks,
about fifty yards apart, on the east side of Federal Hill,
about one hundred and fifty yards from Anderson's
Spring, from which they are separated by Shover's
Creek. They are copious springs, of remarkably pure

BEDFORD SPRINGS.

257

water, which is very clear and colorless. Its tempera-
ture was, on the 28th of May, 52° Fahr. The water
of these springs is used for cooking, washing, etc. by
the residents at Bedford Springs, and the visitors de-
cidedly prefer it for drinking-water, and, on account of
its purity, they very appropriately called these springs
the Sweet Springs. ' '

The Sulphur Spring is on the west side of Shover's
Creek, about two hundred yards from Anderson's
Spring. It is not so copious in its flow as the other
springs. Its temperature is 56° Fahr., and it has a
strong odor of sulphuretted hydrogen. Dr. Church's
experiments with this water determined that it holds
in solution carbonic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen gas,
with lime, magnesia, and common salt in small quan-
tities. This spring contains no iron.

The Chalybeate Spring, Dr. Church states, "rises
in a meadow, about one and a half miles northeast of
Bedford, and about three miles from Anderson's Spring.
It is not a copious spring. The water exhales the pe-
culiar odor of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, and is cov-
ered with a thin whitish pellicle. When first taken
from the spring it is clear and limpid, but on exposure
in an open vessel to the action of the air it becomes
turbid. Its taste is ferruginous and slightly hepatic."
Experiments prove that this water contains sulphuretted
hydrogen and carbonic acid gases, carbonate of iron,
muriate of soda, and a minute portion of magnesia.
In cleaning out this spring, many years ago, a p3iVt of
the skeleton of a mammoth was found imbedded in the
mud.

The Limestone Spring is a bold fountain of pure
water, about two hundred yards below Anderson's
Spring. Its temperature is 51° Fahr.

258 SPRINGS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Fletcher's, or the Upper Spring, is on the west
side of Constitution Hill, one hundred and fifty yards
from Anderson's Spring. Its temperature is 55° Fahr.
Dr. Church's experiments with this water show that, as
compared with that of Anderson's Spring, it contains
rather more iron and common salt, with less magne-
sia, and about the same proportion of the other ingre-
dients.

The Bedford waters are laxative and tonic in their
effects. They are said to "give rise to full purging,
and cause a discharge of bilious or other acrid matters,
with as much activity as the most powerful purgatives.
They also excite the action of the kidneys and skin,
causing a very free secretion of urine and perspiration. ' '

GETTYSBURG SPRING.

This spring is located one mile west of Gettysburg,
Adams County, Pennsylvania. It rises in a portion of
the battle-ground made famous by one of the most san-
guinary struggles of our recent civil war. If not en-
tirely unknown as a water possessing curative powers,
it was unknown to the fame it now enjoys, until after
its surrounding hills were moistened by the fraternal
blood of contending hosts.

The legend of the place, that the virtues of the waters
were first demonstrated by wounded soldiers who fell
in battle in the vicinity of the springs, is probably
more romantic than true. But there is little doubt that
the distinction which the famous battle gave to the
ground in which the spring is situated did much to
direct attention to. the spring and to lead to a more
thorough examination of its waters. The chemical ex-
amination of this spring by Prof. Genth recognizes the
following constituents, in the proportions stated, in
331 cubic inches of.the water: —

'"^

GETTYSBURG SPRING.

259

Sulphate of baryta trace.

Sulphate of strontia 0,004.27 grains.

Sulphate of lime 0,831.45

Sulphate of magnesia 6,779.40

Sulphate of potash 0,208.36

Sulphate of soda 2,467.76

Chloride of sodium 0,657.90

Chloride of lithium trace.

Bicarbonate of soda 0,704.57

Bicarbonate of lime 16,408.15

Bicarbonate of magnesia 0,542.60

Bicarbonate of iron 0,035.85

Bicarbonate of manganese 0,006.69

Bicarbonate of nickel trace.

Bicarbonate of cobalt trace.

Bicarbonate of copper 0,000.50

Borate of magnesia 0,034.92

Phosphate of lime 0,006.79

Fluoride of calcium 0,009.54

Alumina 0,003.80

Silicic acid 2,030.88

Organic matter, with traces of nitric acid, etc... 0,708.70

Impurities suspended in the water, like clay, etc. i ,100.69

32,542.72

Analyses of mineral waters, however perfect they
may be (and they are very often imperfect), cannot, in
the very nature of the case, do more than plausibly
indicate probable applicabilities and efficiencies, and
should always be regarded rather as plausible hints to
the invalid and the medical man than as positively de-
termining medicinal efficacy and value. The very tests
which reveal some qualities in mineral waters may have
the power of destroying others, and these, too, may be
those in which the medicinal properties reside. The re-
medial properties, then, of mineral waters cajinot be de-
tennined with any positive certainty by ajialysis, however
nicely conducted, but must be ascertained by experience.

One dozen carefully diagnosed and "well-watched"
cases, under the use of a mineral water, will do more to
determine its medicinal powers than any analysis that
can be made by the ablest chemist. But taking the
indications which analysis reasonably supposes, and ap-

2 6o SPRIA'GS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

plying them to the Gettysburg water, we would expect
to witness from its use the same character of effects that
have been known for centuries to result from the Euro-
pean waters of similar chemical composition, such, for
instance, as the well-known waters of E7ns, Tcplitz,
Mont d' Or, and Vichy, which the Gettysburg water suf-
ficiently resembles to justify a plausible inference that
its medicinal efficacy would be similar.

This water belongs to the carbiiretted class of waters,
and holds in solution ingredients that have given much
reputation to such waters, both in Europe and America;
and if judged alone by its analysis, favorably impresses
the medical mind as to its therapeutic efficiency in some
important forms of disease.

The bicarbonate of litliia, found in this spring, is an
interesting fact. In addition to the modifying influ-
ences which this agent may, and probably does, exert
upon its associated ingredients, its affinity for uric acid,
and its consequent specific efficacy in dissolving uritic
concretions when removed from the body, plausibly in-
dicate its adaptation to the same end when internally
used.

The chemical composition of this water as shown
by its analysis, taken as a whole, plainly indicates its
adaptation as a valuable remedy in a long list of affec-
tions of the niucous surfaces, and especially in dyspeptic
depravities, chronic irritations of the bowels, as well as
of similar conditions of the kidneys and bladder. The
invalid may hopefully look to the use of waters contain-
ing the salts found in the Gettysburg spring, not only
in chronic inflammations and irritations of the organs
alluded to, but also in certain pulmonary disturbances,
as bro7ichitis, chronic laryngitis, hmnoral asthma, ca-
tarrh, etc.

The reported curative effects of the water during the
last five years are highly favorable to its employment
in dyspepsia, chronic diarrhcea, gout, chronic rheu-
matism; in the various kidney and bladder affections.

GETTYSBURG SPRING. 261

and especially in those of uric acid predominance. In
albiimiiiuria or Brighf s disease it has been successfully
prescribed before positive degeneration of the kidneys
had taken place, and in some cases of diabetes it has
been successfully prescribed.

This water is decidedly alterative, as well as specific ;
indeed, its principal sanative influences are exerted in
its alterative power. This supposes its absorption into
the general current of the circulation, and the influence
there of the efficient medicinal materials which it holds
in solution, in correcting the blood and the diseased
organs and tissues, which such medicinal materials are
adapted to alterate and correct; thus bringing them
into a natural performance of their functions, and
imparting a healthful tone and energy to the whole
system.

The operations of this and all other alterative waters
are quiet and unobtrusive ; slotv, but all the more sure,
and permanently valuable, because slow, in radically and
effectually accomplishing their ijnpoj'tant mission. Its
immediate and sensible effects are not very marked,
producing ordinarily but little effect upon any of the
excretory organs.

This water, although very extensively employed in
the treatment of disease for the last five years, has been
mostly used as transported luater, and in many instances
after it had been removed from the spring several
months. Recently, extensive improvements have been
made at the spring, capable of accommodating a large
number of visitors.

The Gettysburg water, being essentially ungaseous,
and holding its salts firmly in solution, is exceedingly
well adapted for transportation. Indeed, with the single
exception of its parting with that earthy freshness pecu-
liar to all waters just issuing from their source, it tinder-
goes no change by transportation, either by deposition of
its salts, taste, general appearance, or medicinal efficacy.
This is a valuable feature in the water, and while it in-

23

262 SFJilNGS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

creases the material value of the fountain to its pro-
prietors, gives confident assurance to invalids of the
equal efficacy of the transported water with that used
fresh at the spring.

A proper method of using the Gettysburg water in
ordinary cases is to take from one and a half to three
pints in the course of the day and night, — that is, from
one to three half-pint glasses at intervals before break-
fast, one before dinner, and from one to two before
retiring at night.

Frankfort Mineral Springs. — These springs are
situated in Beaver County, twenty-six miles southwest
from Pittsburg, and one mile and a half from the vil-
lage of Frankfort. The principal spring is known as
Cave Spring. It arises within a large and very roman-
tic cave, on the plantation of Mr. Stevens. The cave
itself is an interesting natural curiosity, and is much
visited by the people of the surrounding country. Dr.
Church, of Pittsburg, directed attention to the medi-
cinal virtues of the Cave Spring water many years ago.
By his analysis the water is found to contain carbonic
acid, carbonate of iron, carbonate of magnesia, muriate
of soda, a minute portion of bitumen, and sulphuretted
hydrogen gas.

There is a fountain known as Leiper' s Spring, very
near Frankfort, which Dr. Church found to hold in
solution somewhat more carbonate of iron and muriate
of soda, with less magnesia, and about the same pro-
portion of carbonic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, and
bitumen, that is found in the Cave Spring water.

Dr. Church remarks that these waters sometimes oc-
casion nausea and vomiting when first drunk, but gen-
erally they set kindly and pleasantly on the stomach.
It generally operates mildly on the bowels and copiously
by the kidneys. With some persons its free use occa-
sions vertigo, with slight sensation of intoxication. As
a therapeutic agent, it is said to " regulate the bowels,

CHALYBEATE SPRINGS— YORK SPRINGS. 263

strengthen the stomach, improve the appetite, clear the
skin, promote diaphoresis, and cause great freedom of
urination."

Chalybeate Spring near Pittsburg. — This spring
is about four miles from the city of Pittsburg. Dr.
John Bell* gives the following description and analysis
of it by Dr. Meade : —

" When the water remains undisturbed for a few
hours, it is covered by a white pellicle, its taste is lively
and rather pungent, with a peculiar ferruginous flavor,
and it exhales an odor of sulphuretted hydrogen gas.
Its temperature is very generally uniform, and is 54°
Fahr. The specific gravity of the water differs little
from the purest water, and is as 1.002 to i.ooo.

"According to Dr. Meade's analysis, it contains
muriate of soda, 2 grains ; muriate of magnesia, \
grain ; oxide of iron, i grain ; sulphate of lime, \
grain; carbonic acid gas in one quart of water, 18
cubic inches.

" Dr. Meade thinks this water even superior, in a
medical point of view, to the water of the Schoohy s
Mountain Spring, which has long sustained a high
character for its chalybeate properties."

York Springs. — These springs are in Adams County,
and are readily reached by railroad from Philadelphia
and Baltimore. There are here two principal springs,
one strongly chalybeate, the other distinctly saline.
The latter contains 6 grains sulphate of lime, 4 muriate
of soda, and 1.20 sulphate of magnesia in a pint of
water. This spring is said to be diuretic and somewhat
cathartic. The chalybeate is doubtless adapted to the
class of diseases in which chalybeate waters are com-
monly prescribed.

* Mineral and Thermal Springs, etc.

264 SPRINGS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Carlisle Springs are mild sulpJutrotis wafe?'s. They
are near the pleasant town of Carlisle, through which
passes the railroad from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. The
hotel accommodations here are said to be very good.

Perry County Springs. — These springs are at the
base of Pisgah Mountain, fourteen miles from Harris-
burg, and eleven from Carlisle. They belong distinctly
to the thertfial class, their temperature being from 70°
to 72° Fahr. When used as a drink they are gently
aperient and decidedly diuretic. They are most es-
teemed as a bath, and employed in this way have
proved beneficial in various disorders, and especially
in diseases of the skin.

Doubling Gap Sulphurous and Chalybeate
Springs. — These springs are in Cumberland County,
about thirty miles west from Harrisburg. They are
eight miles from Newville, through which the Cumber-
land Valley Railroad passes, and from whence passen-
gers to the springs are conveyed by stages.

I am indebted to Dr. John Bell for Professor Booth's
chemical examinations of these waters. He says, "The
odor of sulphuretted hydrogen, perceived at some dis-
tance from the springs, imparts to this water the pecu-
liar properties of sulphur springs. Besides this ingre-
dient, I find that the water contains carbonates of soda
and of magnesia, Glauber's salts, Epsom salts, and
common salt; ingredients which give it an increased
value. After removing the excess of carbonic acid
which it contains, it gives an alkaline reaction."

Of the other springs he remarks, "The chalybeate
water readily yields a precipitate after ebullition or
continued exposure to the excess of carbonic acid.
Besides the bicarbonate of iron, which is the chief
characteristic, it also contains Epsom salts, common
salt, and carbonate of magnesia."

The composition of these springs indicates with suffi-

BLOSSBURG SPRINGS. 265

cient clearness their respective applicability as thera-
peutic agents. The first belongs to the mild sulphurous
saline, the second to the carbonated ferruginous class.

Fayette Spring. — This spring is situated on the east-
ern slope of the Laurel Hill, and near the great National
road. The water is chalybeate, very cold and abundant
in quality. The scenery around the spring is wild and
romantic, and the coolness, freshness, and elasticity of
the air wholesome and invigorating.

Bath Chalybeate Spring is near the town of Bristol,
on the Delaware. Dr. Bell informs us that " these
springs used to be visited by many of the citizens of
Philadelphia, on account, in good part, of ready access
to them," and that Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote an ac-
count of them in 1773. They seem now to have gone
very much out of public notice.

Blossburg Springs. — These springs belong to the
class known as acid waters in New York, and as alum
springs in Virginia. In taste they very much resemble
the Rockbridge Alum water. They contain a large
amount of free sulphuric acid, and less alumina than
the Virginia waters. Unlike Rockbridge water, they
readily deposit, when removed from the spring, a large
portion of the iron they hold in solution.

The Blossburg waters are adapted to the same general
class of diseases for which the Virginia and New York
acid waters are beneficially prescribed. The dose of a
" tablespoonful," in which they are sometimes recom-
mended, is altogether too small to produce any benefi-
cial effects in ordinary cases. I have had an opportunity
of examining the Blossburg waters, and of carefully com-
paring them with the Rockbridge waters, and I am sure,
judging from the relative strength of the two, and from
my knowledge of the proper dose of the latter, that
from two to four or even five glasses of the Blossburg
waters may in many cases be beneficially taken in the
course of the twenty-four hours.
23*

266 SPRINGS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

These springs are in Tioga County, near the New-
York line, and in the immediate region of beds of iron
and bituminous coal.

In addition to the mineral springs of Penns3'lvania,
already noticed, there are numerous pure, cool, and in-
vigorating fountains, that from the great purity of their
waters, their healthful situation, the character of their
accommodations, and the facility with which they may
be reached, have become places of considerable summer
resort. In this category may be reckoned the Ephi-ata,
Yellow, and Caledonia Springs. I will notice them in
the order in which I have named them.

The Ephrata Springs, the annual resort of many
persons during the summer season, are situated in the
rich agricultural county of Lancaster. The grounds
around them are very pleasant, the scenery interesting,
and the hotel accommodations excellent. Baths of
various temperatures are furnished, and many induce-
ments offered to make the sojourn of visitors at these
springs both agreeable and beneficial.

The Yellow Springs are thirty miles from Philadel-
phia, in the county of Chester. From these springs a
magnificent view of a most interesting surrounding
country is obtained. The rides and drives are very
pleasant, and the twice daily communication with Phil-
adelphia by the Reading Railroad and stages offers
great facilities to the citizens of the city in the enjoy-
ment of country air and spring recreations. They
have facilities here for the shower and douche, as well
as for the common immersion baths. The hotel ac-
commodations are said to be most excellent.

Caledonia Springs were formerly known as Swe-
ney's Cold Springs. They are about fifteen miles from
Chambersburg. Visitors to them, on arriving at Cham-
bersburg, may immediately proceed by coach to their
destination. The water of these springs, used as a
bath, has enjoyed a high local reputation for many

CALEDONIA SPRINGS.

267

years, in the cure of various diseases for which cold,
tepid, or warm baths are commonly employed. Chronic
rheumatism has been often subniitted to the Caledonia
bath, and, it is said, with excellent effect.

The waters of Caledonia are very pure, the baths
comfortable, the cuisine admirable, while the mountain
and intervale scenery, and the elastic, invigorating at-
mosphere, afford all that could be desired of scenery
or climate to delight the mind, invigorate the system,
and give new life and energy to the habitues of cities,
worn down in the treadmill of incessant toil, counting-
room confinement, or commercial anxieties.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF VERMONT.

Clarendon Gaseous Springs. — This is a mild acid-
ulous water, very slightly impregnated with saline mat-
ter, so slightly, indeed, as to make it rank among the
purest waters known. Dr. Bell* states on the authority
of Dr. Gallup, who published a notice of this spring,
that it has been ascertained by analysis to contain in
an American gallon, 235 cubic inches, the following
ingredients : —

Nitrogen or azote 9.63 cubic inches.

Carbonic acid 46.16 "

Besides atmospheric air.

Carbonate of hme 3.02 grains.

Muriate of lime, sulphate of lime, and sulphate of

magnesia 2.74 "

5-76 "

Temperature of the Higher spring 48° Fahr., of the Lower 54°
Fahr.

These waters have acquired considerable reputation
in the surrounding country for the cure of dropsical
effusions, diseases of the skin, chronic bronch'itis, irri-
tations of the bladder, etc.

The quantity of the water advised to be used varies
from five to twenty-five half-pint tumblers in the course
of the twenty-four hours. It is said that on com-
mencing their use they often excite slight nausea,
with a sense of warmth on the surface, but that those

* Mineral and Thermal Waters, etc.
(268)

MISS IS QUO I AND VERMONT SPRINGS. 269

sensations disappear in five or six hoiys, in which time
their diuretic effects will be manifest.

Newburg Sulphur Spring is twenty-seven miles in
an easterly direction from Montpelier. This is a spring
of some notoriety in the country around, and consid-
erably resorted to by invalids. No analysis, so far as
I know, has been made of the water, but it is said to
be very strongly impregnated with sulphuretted hy-
drogen gas. Other springs of similar character are
found in the same region of country.

There are good hotel accommodations here, and
pleasant facilities for bathing. The use of the water
has been much praised in diseases of the skin, and in
scrofulous affections.

HiGHGATE Springs, eleven miles from the boat-land-
ing at Albon's Bay, are sulphurous waters, and of the
same general character as those of the Newburg Spring.

The Abburgh Spring is a sulphurous water, similar
to the waters of Newburg and Highgate just noticed.

Professor Hitchcock mentions a thermal spring near
Bennington, but does not give its temperature. It
throws off oxygen and nitrogen gases, and the water is
so abundant that it is used for operating machinery.

MISSISQUOI SPRINGS— VERMONT SPRINGS.

In the neighborhood of the village of Sheldon are
two mineral springs that have recently been brought
into public notice, mainly through the transportation
of their waters, and publications claiming for them
extraordinary virtues. One of these is known as the
Missisquoi, the other as the Vermont Spring. Rising in
the same neighborhood and in the same geological
range, and the qualitative analysis of the two being very

270

SPI?INGS OF VERMONT.

similar, I assume that the two springs do not essentially
differ in therapeutic qualities. They are both shown
to contain sodium, calcium, magnesium, manganese,
iron, alumina, chlorine, and silica, with sulphuric and
hydrochloric acid.

So far as the analyses of these waters indicate their
thcTapeutic powers, their best effects may be looked for
in cuticiilar diseases, ulcerations, strumous conditions of
the system, and in the tertiary form of syphilis. The
claim urged in behalf of these waters as a specific for
the cure of scirrhus or cancer requires for its establish-
ment more satisfactory evidence, I conceive, than has
yet been given to the public.

Pathology in reference to cancer is so often at fault,
or, in other words, obstinate disorders far less intracta-
ble are so often mistaken for it, that reports of the cure
of such cases ought to be received with caution ; not
because of any intention to deceive on the part of the
relater, but because of his liability to be deceived as
to the true pathology of such cases. I attach the more
importance to this caution, because mineral waters in
my hands, however efficacious they have been in skin
diseases and in ill-conditioned ulcers, have never been
found to be remedial in true scirrhus or cancer.

Medical men, and every friend of humanity, will re-
joice in an admitted specific that can be relied upon
to cure and eradicate this terrible affection ; nor should
we hold such results to be impossible, for it is not un-
reasonable to suppose that nature is capable of pro-
viding, perhaps has provided, a physical remedy for all
her physical ills.

The Alburgh Spring is near Missisquoi Bay, Grand
Isle County, sixteen miles from St. Albans. Prof.
Chandler, from his chemical analysis, states that this
water contains —

Potassium, sodium, lithium, lime, magnesia, strontia,
chlorine, sulphuric acid, carbonic acid, and silica.

ALBURGH SPRING.

271

These exist in the form of the following com-
pounds : —

Chloride of potassium, chloride of sodium, sulphate
of potassa, bicarbonate of lithia, bicarbonate of soda,
bicarbonate of lime, bicarbonate of strontia, bicar-
bonate of magnesia, and silica.

The most interesting feature of this water, as ex-
hibited by its analysis, is its distinct alkaline character,
and the presence in it of the carbonate of lithia.

CHAPTER XL.

SPRINGS OF MASSACHUSETTS.

HoPKiNTON Springs have acquired some reputation
in the section of country in which they are situated.
An analysis of the water of the principal spring, by
Dr. Gorham, shows that it contains the carbonates of
magnesia, lime, and iron. One of the springs here is
strongly impregnated with sulphur.

Berkshire Soda Spring. — This watering-place is
situated in the mountains in Berkshire County, three
miles from the village of Great Barrington, through
which the cars of the Housatonic Railroad run four
times daily. During the watering-season, carriages run
regularly four times a day between Great Barrington
and the springs.

As embodying the best information at command in ref-
erence to this spring, I insert the following extract from
a letter from Dr. C. T. Collins to Dr. Valentine Mott,
for which I am indebted to Dr. John Bell's recent vol-
ume on the " Mineral and Thermal Springs of the United
States and Canada:" —

"I must not close this letter without mentioning a
very valuable mineral spring, situated among the moun-
tains, a short distance from this village, and which has
for many years past had a high /(?^<7/ reputation for the
cure of scrofula and eruptive diseases of the skin.

"The people in this part of the country consider it
a specific for the cure of all that class of eruptive dis-
eases which are popularly called by the vague and in-
definite term of salt-rheum.
(272)

BERKSHIRE SODA SPRING.

273

" During the past year, by way of experiment, I have
placed several obstinate cases of eczema, ecthyma, acne,
porrigo, etc. under the exclusive treatment of this water,
and the results have been very satisfactory. Indeed,
I may say that, in some cases, its effect was most extra-
ordinary. So pleased was I with the use of this mineral
water that 1 sent a jug of it to New York City, and had
it analyzed by Professor Doremus and Dr. Blake, the
former assistant of Professor Silliman. It was found
to contain soda, chlorine, carbonic acid, and a trace of
alumina. Yet there is but little taste in it other than
that of pure water. When bathed in, it imparts to the
skin the most delightful softness of any that I have ever
used, causing even a rough skin to feel smooth."

Arrangements exist here for the comfortable use of
warm, cold, and shower baths.

24

CHAPTER XLI.

SPRINGS OF NEW JERSEY AND MAINE SCHOOLEy's

MOUNTAIN.

The principal watering-place in New Jersey is
Sc/wo/cfs Mountain Spring, situated in Morris County,
nineteen miles northwest from Morristown, and fifty
from the city of New York. The water of this spring
finds its exit from the earth near the summit of
Schooley's Mountain, whence it is conveyed some
distance down the mountain to a platform for the use
of visitors, as a beverage and a bath. The quantity
flowing from the spring is uniformly about thirty gal-
lons in an hour. Its temperature is 50° Fahr. Its
taste is strongly chalybeate, and it deposits oxide of
iron readily upon substances with which it comes in
contact. Its source is in the neighborhood of beds of
iron ore, some of which, on both sides of the moun-
tain, are worked advantageously in furnaces.

The waters of this spring have been known to pos-
sess valuable medicinal properties for more than three-
quarters of a century, and for this reason, as well as on
account of the salubrious atmosphere and its picturesque
and romantic scenery, Schooley's Mountain has long
been celebrated as one of the most desirable summer
resorts for health and pleasure.

According to a chemical examination of the water
by Dr. Nevin, its chief ingredients are "muriate and
sulphate of lime and carbonated oxide of iron."

Dr. Bell remarks that " as a pure carbonated cha-
lybeate, the water of Schooley's Mountain Spring is
well adapted to a variety of maladies marked chiefly
(274)

SPRINGS OF MAINE. 275

by anaemia, debility, and mucous discharges in which
there is no inflammation of an organ present. Its tend-
ency to induce constipation must be watched, and this
effect arrested by the use of mild aperients."

Visitors to the springs from New York will go to
Morristown by railroad and thence by stage, or to the
White House by railroad and thence by stage. The
springs are reached from Philadelphia by w^ay of New
Brunswick, and thence by stage, six miles, to Bound
Brook, on the New Jersey Central Railroad. By this
route they reach the White House, and thence, by stage,
the springs.

SPRINGS OF MAINE.

Dr. C. P. Jackson, in a report upon the Geology of
Maine, gives some account of two mineral springs in
this State, the Saline Spring of Lubec, and Dexter's
Chalybeate Spring.

The Saline Lubec Spring rises near the junction of
the blue limestone and red sandstone rocks, on the
banks of a small stream near the head of Lubec Bay.
He represents the water as clear and colorless, \vith a
specific gravity of 1.025. The solid residuum of an
Imperial gallon, perfectly dry, was 32.2.5 grains; 100
grains of this dry salt gave, by analysis, in one pint of
water, the following results : —

Grains. Grains.

Chloride of sodium 64.0 199.000

Sulpliate of lime 3.6 11. 210

Chloride of magnesium 20.2 62.840

Sulphate of soda 9.0 27.985

Carbonate of iron 0.8 2.490

Carbonate of lime 2.0 6.250

Chloride of calcium a trace. 12.720 loss.

Carbonic acid gas.

99.6 322.500

.4 loss.

100. o

276

SPRINGS OF MAINE.

Dexter Chalybeate Spring is located on the eastern
branch of a stream known as Sebasticook. It deposits
copiously "an ochreous yellow oxide of iron." Dr.
Jackson considers this water a valuable tonic in various
disorders of the digestive functions.

CHAPTER XLII.

MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS BETWEEN THE MISSIS-
SIPPI AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

In California — Oregon — Kansas — New Mexico — Wyoming — Utah,
etc.

I DEPART from my general plan of treating only such
springs as are improved for public use, to notice, in a
brief way, the principal thermal and mineral fountains
that have been discovered in the vast regions extending
from the western borders of Iowa, Missouri, and Arkan-
sas to the Pacific Ocean.

In the States of California, Oregon, Nevada, and
Kansas, as well as in the Territories of Idaho, New
Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, etc., mineral and
thermal waters are found in large abundance, of very
positive quality, and of high temperature.

In North or Upper California, west of the Cas-
cade Range, and at the foot of Shasta Peak, springs are
found hot enough, as travelers tell us, to boil eggs. The
region around is volcanic, and the bare summit of the
Peak, rising to a height of from 12,000 to 14,000 feet,
is regarded as an extinct volcano.

A few miles distant from the spring just mentioned
is an acidulo-chalybeate fountain, and so sparkling, pun-
gent, and effervescent is it that the trappers call it Soda
Water.

Dr. Le Conte describes a number of volcanic springs
in the Desert of Colorado, in Southern California, some
of which are said to resemble the mud volcanoes of
24* (277)

278

MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS

Taman, in the Crimea, and others the eruptive springs
or geysers in Iceland. They are in the neighbor-
hood, and but six or eight miles distant from a range
of volcanic hills from 800 to 1000 feet high. These
springs consist of "numerous circular lakes, contain-
ing boiling mud, and exhaling a naphtha-like odor.
Many of them are incrusted with inspissated mud, form-
ing cones three to four feet high, from the apex of which
proceed mingled vapors of water, sal-ammoniac, and
sulphur. Four of them eject steam and clear saline
water, with great violence, resembling in appearance
the jet from the pipe of a high-pressure engine."
These springs are in a muddy plain, bordering on a
saline lake.

A hot sulphur spring, of the temperature of 137°
Fahr., exists near Warner's Rancheria, about ninety
miles from the Colorado, in South California.

Idaho furnishes numerous mineral and thermal
springs of very decided character. ^

The Beer Springs, described by Colonel Fremont,
are about 135 miles, in a direct line, from the South
Pass, through the Wind River Mountains, which sepa-
rate the waters that flow into the Atlantic from those
that find their way into the Pacific.

The Beer or Soda Springs are carbonated waters.
They are described by Colonel Fremont as existing in
great abundance in an amphitheatre of mineral waters,
which is inclosed by the mountains that sweep around
the circular bend of Bear River at its most northern
point in the Territory of Idaho.

In the immediate neighborhood of the Beer or Soda
Springs Colonel Fremont discovered a very remark-
able fountain, which throws up its waters in the form
of dijetcfeau to a variable height of about three feet.
The flow of the water is accompanied by a "subterra-
nean noise, which, together with the motion of the
water, makes very much the impression of a steamboat

BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI AND PACIFIC.

279

in motion," and hence it was named the Steamboat
Spring. This is a carburetted water of the temperature
of 87"^ Fahr. ''Within, perhaps, two yards of theyV/
if e a II is a small hole of about an inch in diameter,
through which, at regular intervals, escapes a blast of
hot air, with a light wreath of smoke, accompanied by
a regular noise."

Hot Springs. — About two hundred and thirty miles
northwest from Fort Hall are found hot springs of the
temperature of 164° Fahr.

Oregon has numerous thermal springs, of which we
mention the following : —

Malheur River Springs. — x\t the distance of one
hundred and twenty miles in a northwestern direction
from the Hot Springs of Idaho, mentioned above, are
the Malheur Hot Springs. They are in latitude 44°
17' N., and longitude 117° W. Their temperature is
193° Fahr. Elevation above the sea, 1880 feet.

Hot and Warm Springs of Falls River. — These springs
are on both sides of Falls River, in latitude 44° 40' N.,
121° 5' W. longitude. They are about two hundred
miles west from the Malheur River Springs.

The most noted springs of Colorado are the Carbu-
retted or Boiling Springs of Pike's Peak. On the South-
ern route from Independence, in Missouri, to Oregon
and California, the traveler passes the now famous Pike's
Peak, at the foot of which, and ten miles from Puebla,
are found the Boiling Springs. Their elevation is 6350
feet above the ocean ; their latitude 38° 42' north.

Colonel Fremont describes these springs as numer-
ous, and some of them as unique and very beautiful.
He says, " I came suddenly upon a large, smooth
rock, about twenty yards in diameter, where the water
from several springs was bubbling and boiling up in the
midst of a white incrustation with which it had covered
a portion of the rock." In describing one of this

28o MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS

group, he says, " In the upper part of the rock, which
had apparently been formed by deposition, was a beau-
tiful white basin, overhung by currant-bushes, in which
the cold, clear water bubbled up, in constant motion
by the escaping gas, and overflowing the rock, which
it had almost entirely covered with a smooth crust of
glistening white."

These waters belong to the acidulous class, and are
highly carburetted. They are said much to resemble
the waters of the famous Seltzer Springs in the duchy
of Nassau. Their temperature is variable, ranging,
under different circumstances of the atmosphere, from
54° to 69° Fahrenheit.

New Mexico has numerous mineral and thermal
springs, some of which are sulphurous, but they have
not been described with sufficient accuracy to make us
acquainted either with their peculiar characteristics or
their precise localities.

There are several springs in Wyoming that have at-
tracted the attention of scientific travelers. Both Col-
onel Fremont and Captain Stansbury, in their respective
narratives, notice the ,

Fort Laramie Spring. — This fountain, thermal in
its character, is ten miles from Fort Laramie, between
the North Fork of the Platte and the Laramie Rivers,
in latitude 42° 15' N., and longitude 104° 47' W. It is
in the southeastern portion of the Territory, 625 miles
from St. Joseph's, in Missouri. Its temperature is 74°
Fahr. , about the same as the Sweet Springs in Virginia.

In the western part of Wyoming, and in the midst
of the Salt Plains, in the valley Of the Sweet Water
River, are found what are known as the Ponds of Sal-
eratus. The chief of these ponds appeared to Captain
Stansbury " as if frozen over, and covered with a light
coating of driven snow. It was found to be a slight
depression, about 400 yards long by 150 in width.

BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI AND PACIFIC. 281

covered with an effervescence of carbonate of soda,
left by the evaporation of the water which had held
it in solution." Tliis substance is quite abundant, and
emigrants use it in their culinary operations in prefer-
ence to the saleratus of the shops.

Hot Springs of Pyramid Lake, Nevada. — The
Pyramid Lake, embosomed in the Sierra Nevada Moun-
tains, with its singular pyramidal mount, rising from
its transparent waters to the height of about 600 feet,
and walled in by almost perpendicular precipices, in
some places nearly 3000 feet high, is a remarkable for-
mation, and is said to have nothing to resemble it in
any other portion of the world. Its boiling springs have
attracted the attention of the scientific. Colonel Fre-
mont describes them in about 39° N. latitude, and 117°
30' W. longitude, as boiling up with much noise. He
states that the largest basin is several hundred feet in
circumference, and has a circular space at one end of
15 feet in diameter, entirely filled with boiling water,
whose temperature near the edge is from 206° to 208°
Fahr. Its depth, near the centre, is more than 16 feet.
The water is impregnated with common salt, but not
so much so as to render it unfit for general cooking,
and a mixture of snow makes it pleasant to drink.

The late Captain Gunnison, speaking of these springs,
says, "At the base of the hills, around the lake, issue
numerous warm springs, that collect in pools and
smaller lakes, inviting aquatic fowl, during the winter,
to resort to their agreeable temperature, and where
insect larvee furnish food at all times, and the soil is so
heated that snow cannot lie in the vicinity. In some
places springs of different temperature are in close
proximity ; some so hot that the hand cannot be thrust
in them without pain."

Utah Territory, more than any other portion of
North America, abounds in thermal waters, many of

282 MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS

which are sulphurous and saline, and of very high
temperature.

City Warm Sulphur Springs issue from a mountain
on the immediate confines of Salt Lake City, and its
waters are conveyed by pipes into bathing-houses,
within the city, for the use of the inhabitants. The
water is sulphurous, and yields, upon analysis, the car-
bonates of lime and magnesia, with small portions of
the chlorides of calcium and sodium, together with
sulphate of soda.

Three miles distant, and rising from the side of the
mountain just mentioned, another spring flows out with
great boldness. The temperature of its water is 128°
Fahr. The specific gravity of this water is very slightly
greater than that of distilled water. It contains chloride
of sodium and traces of chlorides of calcium and mag-
nesium, sulphate and carbonate of lime and silica.

Between Salt Lake City and the Great Salt Lake
there are numerous wa?-m fountains, which, Captain
Gunnison informs us, deposit gypsum and other sul-
phates. They constitute delightful bathing, but are
said to destroy the fertility of the soil to which their
waters are applied.

Colonel Fremont thus describes a group of hot springs
situated thirty-four miles north of Salt Lake City: — "Li
about seven miles from Clear Creek, the trail brought
us to a place at the foot of the mountain, where there
issued, with considerable force, ten ortwelve\\o\. springs,
highly impregnated with salt. \\\ one of them the ther-
mometer stood at 136°, and in another at 132° Fahr.,
and the water, which spread in pools over the low
grounds, was colored red." His analysis of this red
earthy matter showed it to be highly impregnated with
iron, and to contain the carbonates of magnesia and
lime, with sulphate of lime, chloride of sodium, with
silica and alumina.

Near Bear River is a depression, in which issue three
fountains between the strata, within the space of thirty

BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI AND PACIFIC. 283

feet, of which one is liot siilphur, the next tepid and
salt, and the other cool, delicious drinking-water.
The three currents unite, and flow off through the
plain, forming the beginning of a large and bold river.

Water of the Great Salt Lake. — Dr. Gale, of Wash-
ington City, has examined the water of this wonderful
saline reservoir. He describes it as perfectly clear,
with a specific gravity of 1.170; common water being
1.000. One hundred parts evaporated to dryness gave
22.422 of solid contents, consisting of chloride of
sodium 20.196, sulphate of soda 1.834, chloride of
magnesium 0.252, with a trace of chloride of calcium.
Dr. G. regards this water as the purest and most con-
centrated brine in the world. The strongest salines of
the Syracuse wells in New York contain but 17.35 P^^"
cent of the chloride of sodium.

Various salt-A.x\A. sulphur springs zx\%q from the moun-
tains and plains near the Great Salt Lake, and flow
into it.

Thermal Saline Springs. — Captain Stansbury, in his
narrative, informs us of the JVarm Saline, whose tem-
perature is 74° Fahr., that breaks out from the moun-
tain at the northern end of the lake, and of the Warm
Springs in the same locality, whose temperature is 84°
Fahr.

We are told that the whole western shore of Salt
Lake, bounded by an immense plain of soft mud, is
traversed by numerous rills of sulphurous and salt water,
that mostly sink into the earth, or are evaporated before
they reach the lake.

Thermal Saline Springs of Spring Valley. — In this
valley, lying on the western side of the mountain that
extends in a southerly direction from the south end of
Salt Lake, thermal saline springs are so numerous as to
give the name to their location. Their temperature is
generally about 74° Fahr.

284 THERMAL SPRINGS OF AMERICA.

TABLE EXHIBITING THE THERMALIZATION OF
THE VARIOUS WARM AND HOT SPRINGS OF THE
UNITED STATES AND ITS TERRITORIES.

I have thought that it would be interesting to my
readers to have a condensed view of the various thennal
springs of the United States and its Territories.

Virginia is rich in thermal waters, and up to the time
of the discovery of the numerous hot springs of New
Mexico, was regarded as possessing more of this class
of waters than any other portion of the continent.

I shall first notice the thermal waters of Virginia and
West Virginia, and shall regard all the springs as be-
longing to that class whose waters are distinctly above
the mean temperature of the immediate country in
which they arise. In this class I include the Green-
brier White Sulphur, although not generally regarded
as a thermal spring ; but the fact that it is full ten de-
grees above the mean temperature of the atmosphere
and the media through which it flows, as well as of
the neighboring fountains, properly gives to it that
character.

Fahrenheit.

White Sulphur, West Virginia 62°

Holston Springs, Scott County, Virginia 68°

Bath, Berkeley County, West Virginia 73°

Sweet Springs, Monroe County, West Virginia 73 to 74°

Red Sweet, Alleghany County, Virginia 75 to 79°

Healing Spring, Bath County, Virginia 85°

Warm Springs, Bath County, Virginia 98°

Hot SpnngSj Bath County, Virginia 98 to 106°

Perry County, Pennsylvania 72°

Lebanon, New York 73°

Merriwether County, Georgia 95°

Buncombe County, North Carolina 94 to 104°

Warm Springs, French Broad, Tennessee 95°

Florida Sulphur Springs 70°

Washita, Arkansas 140 to 156°

Spring near Fort Laramie, Wyoming 74°

Hot Sulphur Springs of California 137°

Hot Springs at Shasta Peak, California

Great Salt Lake City Warm Springs

Great Salt Lake Hot Springs, Utah 123°

THERMAL SPRINGS OF AMERICA. 285

Fahrenheit.
Great Salt Lake Hot Chalybeate, thirty miles from

Great Salt Lake 132 to 136°

Great Salt Lake Thermal Saline 74 to 84°

Great Salt Lake Spring Valley Saline 70 to 74°

Bear River Warm and Hot Springs, seventy-four miles

northwest from Salt Lake City 134°

Lake Utah Warm Springs

Hot Springs, Idaho 164°

Malheur River Hot Springs, Oregon I93°

Hot and Warm Springs, Falls River, Oregon 89 to 134°

Hot Springs, Pyramid Lake, Nevada* 206 to 208°

* Mineral and Thermal Springs of the United States, by Bell.

25

CHAPTER XLIIL

MINERAL SPRINGS OF CANADA.

The Caledonia Springs. — These springs are situ-
ated about forty miles from Montreal, and a few miles
south of the Ottawa River. They are a place of con-
siderable resort during the summer season. There are
four springs in this group deserving of notice. They
are known as the Gas, the Saline, the Sulphur, and the
Intertnitting Spring.

The first three issue through a pliocene clay, within
a few rods of each other. They are all more or less
alkaline in character, the Sulphur the most so. The
intermitting spring is two miles distant from the others,
abounds in earthy chlorides, and emits carburetted hy-
drogen gas largely at irregular intervals.

1. The Gas Spring. — The temperature of this spring
was found to be 44.4° when the thermometer stood
in the air at 61.7°. It discharges about four gallons of
water per minute, and evolves a gas, ascertained to be
carburetted hydrogen, at the rate of 300 cubic inches
a minute. Its specific gravity is 1006.23 its taste
pleasantly saline, without bitterness ; its saline ingre-
dients in 1000 parts, 7.7775. Carbonic acid in 100
cubic inches, 17.5.

2. Saline Spring. — This spring is not very dissimi-
lar from the one. just named, but, notwithstanding,
from the name it bears, is somewhat less saline. Its
temperature and specific gravity are essentially the

(286)

MINERAL SPRINGS OF CANADA. 287

same. Occasionally it emits a stray bubble of carbu-
retted hydrogen, but the amount of that gas evolved is
very small. It is somewhat more strongly alkaline
than the Gas Spring. This spring yields 10 gallons per
minute, and to every 1000 parts of its water gives 7.347
parts of solid matter. Its free carbonic acid is 14.7
cubic inches in 100 cubic inches of water.

3. Sulphur Spring. — The water of this spring is
slightly sulphurous in taste and odor. Solid matter in
1000 parts, 4.9506. It is somewhat more alkaline than
the other springs of the group, contains silica in a rela-
tively large proportion, and exhibits traces of iodine
and iron.

4. Intermitting Spring. — The temperature of this
spring was 50° when the atmosphere around was 61°.
Solid matter in 1000 parts of its waters, 14.639 parts.
Chemical examination detects the existence of bromine,
chlorine, and iodine in the water, with sodium, potas-
sium, magnesium, and calcium. A large portion of the
two latter exist in the form of chlorides. Traces of
alumina and iron are also found.

Tuscarora Acid Spring. — This spring is located in
Tuscarora Township, 21 miles north of Port Dover.
Its waters abound in free sulphuric acid, in the propor-
tion of 4 parts in 1000, and, also, with the sulphate of
the alkalies, magnesia, lime, alumina, and iron in small
quantities. It emits occasional bubbles of carburetted
hydrogen, and its waters are acid and styptic to the
taste, and decidedly sulphurous, while the odor of sul-
phuretted hydrogen is manifest for some distance around
the spring.

Charlottesville Sulphur Spring. — This spring is
in the neighborhood of Port Dover, on Lake Erie.
Its waters are sparkling and limpid, their odor strongly
sulphurous. The taste of the water is pungent, with a

288 MINERAL SPRINGS OF CANADA.

slight impression of sweetness, leaving a sense of warmth
in the mouth. Chemical examinations show the pres-
ence of chlorides and sulphates in the water ; the bases
are ascertained to be soda, potash, magnesia, and lime,
with traces of iron and alumina. It abounds very
strongly in sulphuretted hydrogen, containing 26.8
cubic inches to the gallon. Its solid matter is 2.49446
parts to 1000.

Mineral Artesian Wells at St. Catharine's, On-
tario.— The analysis of this water, as reported in a
printed circular, is very extraordinary. If the pub-
lished statement of its analysis, by Dr. Chilton, be
correct, and the water sent to him for examination was
the natural water of St. Catharine's, the quantities in
which its ingredients are held in solution, when we con-
sider their peculiar character, are unexampled in the
history of mineral fountains.

Dr. John Bell,* with amiable manifestations of in-
credulity, remarks, "Assuming the printed statements
of the results of an analysis, by Dr. James R. Chilton,
to be correct, the saline ingredients of this water are in
a singularly large proportion, and this, too, of certain
salts whicli are far from being common, still less abun-
dant, in mineral springs. A pint of the water is rep-
resented to hold in solution 5064.15 grains of saline
substances, which are equal to nearly five-sevenths of
the watery menstruum in which they are dissolved. In
other words, 16 ounces of the water hold in solution
rather more than lo^^ ounces of saline matter. They
are in the following proportions in one pint of water;
its specific gravity at 60° Fahr. being 1.0347 : —

Chloride of calcium 2950.40

Chloride of magnesium 1289.76

Chloride of sodium 781.36

Protochloride of iron 13.76

Sulphate of lime 16.32

* Mineral and Thermal Waters of the United States and Canada.

MINERAL SPRINGS OF CANADA. 289

Carbonates of lime and magnesia 2.08

Bromide of magnesium a trace.

Iodide of magnesium a trace.

Silica and alumina .47

Grains 5064.15

"According to this analysis, the proportion of
chloride of calcium (muriate of lime) in the water is a
little more even than that which is found in the solu-
tion of this salt directed by the Pharmacopoeia of the
United States, viz., one part of the chloride in two
and a half parts of the solution." On reading a little
further, after the table of constituents of this water,
we come to a " Card to the Public," in which we learn
that the product of the artesian well is subjected to a
certain process of depuration and evaporation, and that
" that part which is composed of common salt first settles
and is removed ; the remainder is dipped into vats
until the earthy matter subsides, and then bottled oif
without any drug or admixture whatever being added
thereto." Dr. Bell adds, "One thing seems to be
certain, that the water bottled and sent away is a water
prepared from that of St. Catharine's well, but not the
water the direct flow from the vein or veins ' opened
by boring.' " He further adds, in proof of the wonder-
ful differences in the strength of the saline impregna-
tions of different specimens of this water, that Mr. J.
E. Young, an intelligent chemist, examined a specimen
of this water left at the shop of Professor Procter, of
the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, with the assur-
ance that it was from St. Catharine's well, in its original
state, with the following results: — "Specific gravity,
1.390; saline contents in one ounce, 164 grains, and
in one pint, 2624 grains. This last, large as is the
proportion, is only a little more than one-half of the
quantity of the salts contained in a pint of the water
sent to Dr. Chilton for analysis."

Varennes Springs. — These springs are on the St.

25

290 MINERAL SPRINGS OF CANADA,

Lawrence, seventeen miles below Montreal. Many
years ago they were largely resorted to, but less so of
late years, though probably from no want of merit in
the waterg.

There are two springs here, called the Gas and the
Saline Spring. Both springs contain iodide, chloride,
and bromide of sodium, with carbonates of soda,
strontia, baryta, lime, magnesia, and iron. The tem-
perature of the water is 45° to 47° Fahr. »

St. Leon Spring is a saline chalybeate, similar in its
general character to the springs of Varennes, but con-
taining more iron. It emits large quantities of car-
buretted hydrogen gas.

The Plantagenet Spring derives its name from the
township in which it is situated. It is near the river
Ottawa. It resembles in the general character of its
waters the St. Leon Spring.

Caxton Spring. — This spring is found in Caxton
Township, on the river Yarnachiche. It resembles very
much the St. Leon and Plantagenet Springs in the
character of its waters, and, like the St. Leon, evolves
large quantities of carburetted hydrogen.

INDEX.

PAGE

Acid Springs, New York 249

Adams County Springs, Ohio 189

Adirondack Springs, New York 254

Administration — Remarks, etc 33

Albany Artesian Wells, New York 236

Alburgh Springs, Vermont 270

Alleghany Springs, Virginia 165

Allison's Springs, Tennessee 196

Alterative Effects of Mineral Waters 29-83

Alum Springs, Rogersville, Tennessee 199

Analysis White Sulphur Water 67

Ancient Use of Mineral Waters 21

Avon Springs, New York 240

Bailey's Springs, Alabama 209

Ballston Springs, New York 227

Bath Alum Springs, Virginia 147

Bath Springs, Pennsylvania 265

Bedford Springs, Tennessee 255

Beersheba Springs, Tennessee 196

Berkeley Springs, Virginia 159

Berkshire Springs, Massachusetts 272

Best Time for Visiting Springs 57

Bethesda Springs, Wisconsin 194

Bladen Springs, Alabama 208

Blue Lick Springs, Kentucky 186

Blue Ridge Springs, Virginia 164

Buffalo Springs, Virginia 178

Byron Acid Springs, New York 253

Caledonia Springs, Pennsylvania 266

California, Springs of. 277

Canada, Springs of 286-290

Capon Springs, Virginia i6i

Carlisle Spring, Pennsylvania 264

Catoosa Springs, Georgia 207

Catskill Spring, New York 248

Chalybeate Spring at White Sulphur 108

(291)

292

INDEX.

PAGE

Chalybeate Spring near Pittsburg 263

Changing from Spring to Spring 42

Chappaqua Spring, New York 247

Charleston Artesian Well 205

Chick's Spring, South Carolina 205

Chittenong Springs, New York 245

Clifton Springs, New York 245

Cold Sulphur Spring, Virginia 150

Columbian Spring, Saratoga 225

Congress Spring, New York 222

Cooper's Well, Mississippi 210

Corner's Black and White Sulphur, Virginia 163

Diet and Exercise at Springs 45

Directions for Use of Saratoga Waters, and Diseases for which

used '. 232-236

Directions for Use of White Sulphur 81

Diseases for which White Sulphur should not be used 107

Diseases treated by White Sulphur 91-107

Doubling Gap Spring, Pennsylvania 264

Dress at Mineral Springs 44

Empire Spring, Saratoga 225

Ephrata Springs, Pennsylvania 266

Errors and Abuses in the Use of Mineral Waters 37, 230-232

Estill Springs, Kentucky 187

Experience the only Sure Guide 23

Fauquier White Sulphur, Virginia 178

Fayette Springs, Pennsylvania 265

Flat Rock, Saratoga 225

Florida, Springs of 218

Frankfort Springs, Pennsylvania 262

French Lick Springs, Indiana 190

Gettysburg Springs, Pennsylvania 258

Geyser, or Spouting, Saratoga 226

Glenn's Springs, South Carolina 204

Gordon's Springs, Georgia 207

Grayson White Sulphur, Virginia 174

Halleck's Spring, New York 236

Hamilton Spring, Saratoga 225

Harrodsburg Springs, Kentucky 183

Harrowgate Springs, New York 247

Healing Springs, Virginia 137

High Rock Spring, Saratoga 223

Holston Springs, Virginia 175

Hot Springs, Arkansas 214

Hot Springs, Bath County, Virginia 128

Huguenot Springs, Virginia 180

Iodine or Walton Spring, Saratoga 225

Iodine Springs, Georgia 206

Johnson's or HoUins's Institute, Virginia 164

Jones's White Sulphur, North Carolina 202

INDEX.

293

PAGE

Jordon Rockbridge Alum, Virginia 146

Jordon's White Sulphur, Virginia 157

Kittrell's Springs, North Carolina 203

Lebanon Springs, New York 253

Lee's Springs, Tennessee 198

Length of Time to use Mineral Waters 31

Liability to Mistakes as to Sulphur Waters 40

Madison Springs, Georgia 206

Maine, Springs of. 275

Massanetta Springs, Virginia 156

Medical Advice deemed essential in Europe, etc 37, 38, 230

Medicinal Efficacy of Mineral Waters 26

Medicines with Miryjral Waters 5°

Messina Springs, New York 246

Mineral Waters not a Catholicon 26-37

Missisquoi Springs, Vermont 269

Modus Operandi of Mineral Waters 28

Montgomery White Sulphur, Virginia 170

Montvale Springs, Tennessee 197

Newberry Springs, New York 147

Newburg Springs, Vermont 269

New London Alum Springs, Virginia 181

New River White Sulphur, Virginia 114

New York Springs 219-254

Ocean Springs, Mississippi 212

Ohio White Sulphur, Ohio 188

Olympian Springs, Kentucky 185

Oregon, Springs of. , 278

Pavilion Spring, Saratoga 223

Periods for the Use of Mineral Waters 47

Periods of the Year for Visiting Springs 57

Perry County Spring, Pennsylvania , 264

Preparations for Use of White Sulphur, etc 84

Prescribing Mineral Waters 5o-S5i 229

Pulaski Alum Springs, Virginia 174

Pulse, Effects of White Sulphur, etc 86

Putnam Spring, Saratoga 223

Rawley Springs, Virginia 154

Red Sulphur Springs, Virginia iii

Reed's Springs, New York...... 236

Resemblance of some Mineral Waters to Mercury in their Effects 35

Richfield Springs, New York 244

Roanoke Red Sulphur, Virginia 164

Robertson's Springs, Tennessee 196

Rochester Springs, Kentucky 184

Rochester Springs, New York 248

Rockbridge Alum Springs, Virginia 141

Rockbridge Baths, Virginia 150

Routes to West Virginia and Virginia Springs 61

Saline and Gaseous Efficacy of White Sulphur Waters 71

294 INDEX.

'9KG-B.

Salivation from Sulphur Waters 36

Salt Sulphur Springs, Virginia 109

Saratoga Alum, Saratoga 225

Saratoga Waters, how to be used, etc 234

Schooley's Mountain Springs, New Jersey 274

Sharon Springs, New York 274

Shocco Springs, North Carolina 202

Silk important as a Dress 45

Springs in New Mexico, etc 277-283

St. Louis Magnetic Springs, Michigan 192

Stribling's Springs, Virginia 151

Sweet Chalybeate, or Red Sweet, Virginia 121

Sweet Springs, Virginia 115

Synopsis of Important Facts in the Use of White Sulphur Water.. 87

Tallahatta Springs, Alabama 209

Tate's Springs, Tennessee 198

Thermalization of Mineral Waters 131

Thermalization Table of Mineral Waters 284

Union Springs, Saratoga 223

Variety Springs, Virginia 151

Vermont Springs, Vermont 269

Verona Springs, New York 248

Virginia and West Virginia Springs 59

Warm and Hot Bathing, Cautions, etc 201

Warm and Hot Springs, North Carolina 200

Warm Springs, Bath County, Virginia 134

Warm Springs, French Broad, Tennessee 199

Warm Springs, Georgia 206

Westport Springs, Ohio 190

West's Spring, South Carolina 204

White Creek Springs, Tennessee 196

White Sulphur Springs, North Carolina 203

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia 62

Williamstown Spring, South Carolina 205

Winchester Springs, Tennessee 196

Yellow Springs, Ohio 189

Yellow Springs, Pennsylvania 266

Yellow Sulphur Springs, Virginia 171

York Springs, Pennsylvania 263

INDEX TO CARDS.

Coleman & Rogers' Pharm^y and Mineral Water Depot,

Baltimore ....... 3

Gettysburg Springs, Pennsylvania .... 4-6

Hollins Institute, Virginia ..... 7

Jordon Rockbridge Alum Springs, Virginia ... 8

Hot Springs of Arkansas .... 9

Levy Brothers, Merchants, Richmond . . . 11

Massanetta Springs, Virginia . . . . .13

Montvale Springs, Tennessee • . . . 13

Piedmont & Arlington Life Insurance Co., Richmond . 14

Rav^ley Springs, Virginia ..... 15

Roanoke College, Virginia . . . . .16

Stieff's Pianos ...... 17

Sweet Chalybeate Springs, Virginia , . . .18

Wade & Boykin, Druggists, etc., Baltimore . . 19

Warm Springs, Virginia ..... 20

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia ... 21

Yellow Sulphur Springs, Virginia . . . .22

' (O

COLEMAN & ROGERS'

Pharmacy and Mineral Water

DEPOT,

178 W. BALTIMORE ST., .
BALTIMORE, MD.

OUR STOCK EMBRACES A FULL LINE OF

PURE DRUGS

AND

Rare PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS,
CHEMICALS, Etc.

ALSO,

NATURAL MINERAL WATERS

FROM THB

MOST POPCLiAR MEDICINAL. SPRI]VGS

IN

France, Germany, and the United States.

Oash Orders solicited, and satisfaction guaranteed.
26 (3)

THE

Gettysburg Katalysine Water.

Dr. John Bell, author of a standard medical work on Mineral
Springs, says of it: —

"The Gettysburg Water has produced signally curative and
restorative effects in different forms of Dyspepsia, Sickness of
the Stomach, Heart-burn, Water-brash, Acute Neuralgic Pains,
Loss of Appetite, Chronic Diarrhoea, Torpid Liver, Gout,
Chronic Rheumatism, Nodosities of the Joints, Approaching
and Actual Paralysis, Diabetes, Kidney Disease, Gravel," etc.

Dr. J. J. Moorman, resident Physician at the White Sulphur
Springs, Professor of the Washington Medical University at
Baltimore, and author of one of the best works on the use of
Mineral W^aters, writes : —

"That as a solvent of the uretic concretions in rheumatism
and gout, it promises to take a high rank among the medicinal
springs of Europe and America. This solvent power is not
claimed, that I am aware of, in behalf of any other mineral
water or medical agent."

The New York Medical Rfcord editorially says : —
"We have also seen cases of albuminuria much relieved by
it, as well as the irritable bladder of old age and calculous dis-
orders of the lithic acid diathesis. From experiments made on
our own person, as well as others, we can state that the Get-
tysburg Water is a regulator of all the secretions and excretions:
under its influence the kidneys and liver, the glands of the in-
testinal canal and the skin, all perform their normal functions;
the bowels, if constipated, become regular; the skin, if dry,
becomes moist; the torpid liver is excited to healthy action,
and the kidneys perform their functions with perfect regularity.
There is a total absence of any disagreeable sensation whatever;
the vis medicatrix seems roused to increased activity, and all
morbid causes of bodily or even mental disorder seem rapidly
to pass away. The result is — increased appetite and digestion,
freer circulation, a stronger pulse, a calmer mind, a more tran-
quil sleep, a clearer complexion, and an increasing nervous
and muscular power. . . . Where gouty or rheumatic per-
sons are taking the Water, we find an extraordinary quantity of
uric acid secreted or deposited from the urine ; the sweat no

(4)

longer contains this principle in excess, as it generally does in
gouty subjects; and with proper attention to regimen and diet,
the health rapidly improves, distorted limbs become straight-
ened, and enlarged joints gradually reduced to their natural
size."

For further reports from the medical profession, and of won-
derful cures, send for pamphlets.

WHITNEY BROS., General Agents,

227 SOUTH FRONT ST., PHILADELPHIA.

THE GETTYSBURG KATALYSINE SPRING

is situated near the historic town of Gettysburg, Adams County,
Pa. By an interesting coincidence it appears on the spot over
which was fired the first gun in the great and decisive battle of
our late War of Rebellion fought at this place. All around is
historic ground. Though a local tradition ascribes to this
Spring healing power, it was not generally considered medicinal
until after the battle. The rumor that some of the wounded
combatants had received benefit from the use of its waters, cur-
rent at Gettysburg after the battle, induced resort to it by
invalids, with results which can hardly find a parallel in the
medical history of the world. The establishment of a great
Spa had previously been the work of centuries; but the Get-
tysburg Katalysine Spring leaped, by a single bound, from
obscurity to the foremost rank among modern medical sources.
The thirteenth revised edition of the United States Dispensa-
tory classes this American Spring of yesterday with the re-
nowned Carbonate Spas of the Old World, the Vichy, and the
Pyrmont, while nearly every newspaper and medical journal
of America has chronicled some of its wonderful cures.

The enterprise, resulting in the erection of a large hotel, at
this Spring, was suggested by tlie published correspondence of
Governors Curtin and Geary, and of General Meade, which
commended it as eminently national and philanthropic. It
was afterwards indorsed by the subjoined appeal of the mem-
bers of the National Congress : —

"The undersigned, deeply impressed with the wonderful cura-

(5)

tive prodigy which appears on the battle-field of Gettysburg,
and learning that it is the design of public-spirited citizens to
utilize this great discovery in the cause of medical science, and
in the interest of humanity, by erecting in the vicinity a hotel
for the entertainment of the afflicted of our own and other
countries who may seek here their lost health, and of the patri-
otic pilgrims to these holy grounds, deem it to be our duty to
commend the proposed enterprise as eminently philanthropic
and praiseworthy.

ULYSSES MEKCTTB,
W. P. FESSKNDEN,
E. D. MORGAN,
ROSCOE C;ONKLING,
T. A. PLANTS,

E. K. ECKLEY,
JOHN TRIMBLE,
N. B. JDDD,

H. I. DAAVKS,
"WM. MOORR,
H. W. COBBETT,
B. F. RICE,
J. A. GARFIELD,
JOHN A. LOGAN,
ORANGE FERBISS,
J. G. J5LAINE,

B. F. HOPKINS,

C. D. HUBBARD,
W. B. WASHBURN,
B. F. WADE,
SCHUYLER COLFAX,
ORRIS S. FERRY,
HENRY WILSON,

L. M. MORRILL,
JOHN COVODE,
OAKES AMES,
GODLOVE S. ORTH,
JOHN COBURN,
JOHN TAFFE,
AV. G. COFFIN,
R. R. BUTLER,'
W. B. STOKES,
J. W. McCLURG,
CHAS. UPSON,
WM. H. KOONTZ,
GEO. LAUUENCE,

F. C. BEAMAN,
J. F. BENJAMIN,
JOHN HILL,

H. D. WASHBURN,
H. L. CAKE,
ALEX. HAMSEY,
GEO. H. WILLIAMS,
MORTON C. HUNTER,
W. MUNGEN,

D. A. NUNN,
T. I). ELIOT,
DANL. J. MORRELL,
W. H. HOOI'ER,
AMASA COBB,

B. F. LOAN,

E. EGGLESTON,
C. A. NEWCOMB,
W. WILLIAMS,
H. B. ANTHONY,
J. B. HENDERSON,
J. M. HOWARD,
M. WELKER,

W. SPRAGUE,

A. H. LAFLIN,

H. VAN AERNAM,

GEO. P. VAN WYCK,

AVM. HIGBY,

T. W. FERRY,

LUKE P. POLAND,

F. E. TROAVBRIDGE,
WM. A. PILE,

GEO. W. ANDERSON,
WM. LOUGHRIDGE,
J. J. GRAVELY,
RUFUS MALLORY,
R. P. BUCKLAND.
JAS. S. MARVIN,

F. STONE,
RICHARD YATES,
HORACE MAYNARD,

A. H. BAILEY,
R. W. CLARKE,
GEO. W. JULIAN,
CHAS. O'NEILL,
BURT VAN HORN,
AVM. M. STEWART,
GEO. M. ADAMS,
W. H. KELSEY,

B. M. BOYER,
CHAS. SITGREAVES,
JOHN BEATTY,

G. F. MILLER,

C. T. HULBURD,
WM. D. KELLEY,
J. T. WILSON,

J. K. MOOREHEAD,

GEO. A. HALSEY,

T. VAN HORN,

JAMES W. NYE,

F. T. FBELINGHUYSEN,

GEORGE VICKERS,

W. S. LINCOLN,

JAMES M. CAVANAUGH,

SIDNEY CLARKE,

JACOB BENTON.

(6)

HOLLINS INSTITUTE,

Botetourt Springs,
ROANOKE COUNTY, VIRGINIA.

COL. GEORGE P. TALOE,
President of Trusters,

CHARLES L. COCKE, A.M.,
General Superintendent.

BOARD OF INSTRUCTION AND GOVERNMENT.

' SES^IOIV 1S73-73.

JOSEPH A. TURNER, M.A., Modern Languages, Ethics, and English.

CHARLES L. COCKE, A.M., Mathematics and Chapel Exercises.

MISS BETTIE D. FOWLKES, Painting, Drawing, and Mathematics.

MADAME A. BUTTEL, Colloquial French and German.

MISS JULIA PORCHER, Instrumental Music and Vocalization.

MISS SALLY BROWNE RYLAND, Preparatory School.

MRS. SUSANNA V. COCKE, Domestic Department.

WM. H. PLEASANT, Ancient Languages, History, and Science.

AUGUST BUTTEL, Director of Music Department and Piano.

MISS SALLY L. COCKE, Languages and English.

MISS ROSA P. COCKE, Languages and History.

MISS CYNTHIA McGAVOCK, Instrumental Music and Singing.

MRS. MARY E. SLOAN, Superintendent of Music-Rooms.

MRS. H, R. McVEIGH, Matron.

MRS. FANNY THOMAS, Matron.

In this Institute tlipre are nine Departments of Instruction: — I. English Lan-
guage and Literature. II. Ancient Languages and Literature. III. Modern
Languages and Literature (Krench and German). IV. Mathematics. V. Natural
Sciences. VI. Mental and Moral Science. VII. History. VIII. Music. IX.
Drawing and Painting.

The Institute is well provided with Musical Instruments, including fifteen
Pianos, Organ, etc.. Chemical and Philosophical Apparatus, Minerals, Maps,
etc. Sessions open about the 15th of September, and continue nine months.
Pupils may come in at any S' ason of the year, and remain throughout the
period of their school-days, including vacations. Parents of pupils are
boarded during summer at moderate cost.

This place, formerly known as "Johnston's Springs," has not Veen
kept as a public " If atej'ing- Place" for thirtj' years, tlie premises having
been wholly devoted to school purposes. It is, Iiovvever, a delightful Summer
Jtesidence, enjoying the advantages of mineral waters, and a few orderly
people are received as private boarders during summer.

«^ POST-OFFICE, Botetourt Springs, Va.

DEPOT, Salem, Va. & Tenn, H.B.

26* ( 7 )

JOEDON ROCKBRIDGE

Rockbridge County, Virginia.

These Springs are 8 miles from Goshen Depot, on the
Chesapeake and Ohio Eailroad, from which point Coaches
run regularly over a good ruad to and from t^ie (Springs in
connection with the Cars.

The improvements here are entirely new, and embrace
the modern conveniences for comfortable accommodations.

The principal Hotel, in addition to Parlors, Dining-Room,
Bali-Room, etc., contains upwards of one hundred Chambers,
all newly furnished, for the accommodation of families or
individuals. There are also Cottage accommodations outside
the Hotel.

In addition to the Ahim ^Talers, whose medicinal
waters are too well known to make it necessary to speak of
them here, there is on the grounds one of the strongest and
best Chalybeate Springs of the country, which, as a direct and
powerful ionic, is well deserving the attention of Spring visi-
tors. There is also within visiting distance from the Hotel
another Spring, known as " /orfme and Al'im H'a^er," which
possesses valuable medicinal powers, and some peculiar to
itself, and which will be constantly kept fresh at the Hotel for
the use of visitors. The waters of this Spring are not only
adapted to the cure of the various diseases commonly cured by
Alum Waters, but also, from its peculiar and highly Alterative
composition, to be a reliable remed}- in other cases wherein
these waters are uncertain or inefficient.

B@^ Facilities for Recreation and Amusement usually found
at fashionable Watt'rins-Places will be found here.

Post-Office, known as ^^ Alum Springs," is kept in
the Hotel.

During the season an Office of the Western Union
Telegraph Co. will also be kept in the Hotel, communicating
with all parts of the world.

(8)

i

LEVY JOTH[RS.

THE LARGEST

DHY GOODS HOUSE

I^ THE STATE,

l\los. WIT and 1019 Main Street,

TERMS CASH.

ONE PRICE AlVD WO DEVIATIOIV.

Purchasing their goods direct from the im-
porters, manufacturers, and at the auction
trade sales, enable them to offer extra induce-
ments to purchasers of dry goods.

Prompt attention given to orders.

For particulars read daily papers published
in Richmond, Petersburg, and Lynchburg.

MASSANEHA SPRINGS,

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, VA.

The Water from the Ague or Taylor's Spring, taken at the
Spring, has had historic fame for very many years for especial
and specific powers in all chronic diseases originating in ma-
laria, such as Affue and Fever, Enlargements of the JAver and
Spleen, Chronic Inflammations of the Bronchia, Stomach, Kidneys,
Bowels, Bladder, etc. etc., originating in Ague and Fever, Yellow,
Congestive, and Bilious Fevers.

The Water is soft, mucilaginous, and a more safe, pleasant,
and sure remedy at the Spring than Quinine. Il bears shipment
well We believe it to be antidotal to Miasmatic Poison ; and, if
drunk in any swamp or miasmatic locality, a preventive of
malarial diseases.

For Dyspepsia, the Rachitic and Cachectic diseases of Chil-
dren ; in Scrofula, Diphtheria, Scurvy, and in Womb and Vene-
real diseases, the combined Ulcer and Ague Water is a charming
remedy.

For cost, carriage, etc. of transported Waters, address

B. CHRISMAN, President,

COW^lV'S ©TA.TI01V,

nOCKlNGUAM COUSTY, VA.

(12)

MOUTVALE SPHIUGS,

Blount County, East Tennessee.

This favorite Summer Resort is 25 miles south of Knoxville,
in a sequestered valley, almost encircled by lofty spurs of the
" Chilhowee" Mountain, which here embosom a valley of sur-
passing loveliness, in which these Springs have their source.
Their elevation is 1400 feet above the level of the sea.

The remarkable power of these Waters in the cure of func-
tional derangements of the Liver, Bowels, Kidneys, and Skin,
and indeed of Chronic Diseases generally, fully attests their high
medicinal properties, and has long made them a place of large
public resort.

All the accessories for Recreation and Amusement usually
found at fashionable Watering-Places will be found here.

Route. — Visitors to Montvale will necessarily pass over
the East Tennessee and Virginia or the Georgia Railroad, making
the city of Knoxville a point ; thence by way of the Knoxville
and Charleston Railroad to JUarysville, 16 miles; from which
place they are conveyed in Coaches, running in connection with
the Trains, to the Springs, 9 miles distant.

J5^" The Springs will be open for the reception of Visitors
on the 1.5th of May, and kept in a style worthy of the patronage
of a discriminating public.

For Pamphlets containing Analysis and grneral descrip-
tion of the Waters, address

JOSEPH L. KING,

Montvale Springs, East Tennessee.
(13)

PIEDMONT AND ARLINGTON

'^ypE Insurance ^^OMPANY,

HOME OFFICE,

W. C. Carrington, President. D. J. Hartsook, Secretary.

J. E. 'E.DWKRViS, Vice- President. J. J. Hopkins, Assistant Secretary.

Prof. E. B. Smith, Actuary. B. C. Hartsook, Cashier.

Annual Income over One and a Quarter Million Dollars.

Policies Liberal and Won-Forfeitable. Losses below the
Average of other like Companies.

All approved and thoroughly tested forms of Iiife and Endow-
ment Policies issued.

This Company has conducted its business at a Smaller
Ratio of Expense to Income than any other Company of same
age in America.

Just and liberal dealings with all its policy-holders, prompt-
ness in paying claims, and the special advantages it presents
to patrons, have secured to the Company unequaled success,
and guarantee its continued prosperity.

Surplus divided annually among policy-holders. Retiring
policy-holders dealt with liberally.

SlOOjOOf^ deposited with Treasurer ofVirginia, and in other
States, for additional security of policy-holders.

The Company has complied with the requirements of the
Insurance Departments of New York, Ohio, California, Ken-
tucky, etc. No other Southern Life Company has established
itself in New York.

NO COMPANY CAN OFFEE SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES.

Over 18,700 Policies issued to March 1, 1873.
(H)

HAWLEY SPHIIIGS,

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY,

11 MILES FROM HARRISONBURG, TA.

We announce to the Spring-going public that these Springs,
so long and favorably known for their efficacy in the treatment
of a large circle of diseases, will be open for the Season of
1873 on

THE FIRST r>A^ir OF JXJ]VE.

These Waters have long been regarded as the strongest and
most fortunately compounded Waters, that are distinctly chalybeate
in character, — the union of other valuable medicinal ingredients
with the iron making them not only actually Tonic, but also
highly Alterative in their effects.

Jg®"" The usual facilities for Amusement and Recreation found
at fashionable Watering-Places generally, will be found here.

Every proper effort will be made to make our guests comfort-
able, and to insure the continuance of the large patronage the
Springs have heretofore enjoyed.

CHARGES FOR THE SEASON.

Board per month $60.00

" " week 15.00

♦' " day 2.50

Children and Servants, half price.

J8^° Rawley may be reached conveniently from the North and
East by the Manassas Gap Railroad to Harrisonburg; and from
the South and West, from Staunton, via Harrisonburg.

B@°- Omnibuses will run from the Springs daily, in connec-
tion with the Railroad Cars.

A. B. IRICH,

President Board of Directors,

J. N. WOODWARD, Superintendent.

April, 1873.

(15)

ROANOKE COLLEGE,

Founded 1833.

The Annual Sessions commence on the First Wednesday in Sep-
tember, and close the Third Wednesday in June.

COURSE OF STUDY.

The thorough and comprehensive curriculum, extending
over a period of four years, embraces the following: — Classi-
cal, Oriental, and Modern Languages, English Language,
Belles-Lettres, History, and Literature, Moral and Intellect-
ual Philosophy, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, International
Law, Political Economy, with Lectures on Physiology and
Hygiene.

LOCATION.

In point of location Koanoke College challenges com-
parison with any other institution in America. The Roanoke
Valley, in which it is situated, is unsurpassed for its fertility,
beautiful mountain scenery, equable temperature, general
healthfulness, and freedom from malarious diseases. Salem,
the most thriving town in Southwest Virginia, is immedi-
ately on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, and at
the junction of the Valley Railroad, now under contract.

EXPENSES.

B@" The Expenses for a Session of TEN months (including
Tuition, Board, Fuel, Lights, "Washing, etc.) are about $200.
A slight advance on this estimate must be made for students
boarding in private families. Fall details given in the annual
catalogue.

fi^^The low price of board ($10 to $14 per month), conse-
quent upon the abundance of the country, enables this Institu-
tion to educate young men on more reasonable terms than are
otfered by any other Institution of high grade in the South.

J§@" The unsurpassed advantages of Roanoke College
have gained for it a wide and rapidly increasing popularity,
students being in attendance annually {rom. fourteen to eighteen
States and Territories.

Persons desiring fuller information are referred to Dr.
J. J. Moorman, Physician to White Sulphur Springs, and
Lecturer on Physiology and Hygiene in Roanoke College.

For Catalogues and further particulars, address

Rev. D. F. BITTLE, D.D.,Pres't.

(i6)

STIEFF'S PIAirOS.

Upwards of fifty First Premiums, Gold and Silver
Medals, were awarded to Charles M. Stieff for the
best Piano, in competition with all the leading manu-
facturers in the country.

Office and Warerooms, No. 9 N. Liberty Street,
Baltimore, Md.

The superiority of the Unrivaled Stieff Piano-Forte
is conceded by all who have compared it with others.
In their New Grand Square Scale, seven and one-third
Octaves, the manufacturer has succeeded in making
the most perfect Piano-Forte possible.

Prices will be found as reasonable as consistent with
thorough workmanship.

A large assortment of second-hand Pianos always
on hand, from $15 to $300.

We are agents for the celebrated Burdett Cabinet,
Parlor, and Church Organs, all styles and prices, to
suit every one ; guaranteed to be fully equal to any
made.

Send for illustrated catalogue containing the names
of over 1500 Southerners, 500 of whom are Yirginians,
200 North Carolinians, 150 East Tennesseeans, and
others throughout the South, who have bought the
Stieff Piano since the close of the war.

27 (17)

Sweet Chalybeate Springs,

Formerly known as the BED SWEET SPEINGS,
Alleghany County, Va.

These Springs, so long and favorably known for their valuable
tonic and alterative powers, both as a Beverage and Bath, have
been newly and completely refitted, with convenient and com-
fortable accommodations for 400 persons.

Their situation is central in the Great Spring Region, being
16 miles south of the White Sulphur, and 9 miles from Alleghany
Station, on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.

They will be open for the Reception of Visitors, for the

Season of 1873, on the ist day of June.

' The Various Sources of Recreation and Amusement,

common to the best-conducted Watering-Plaoes, will be kept up
for the accommodation of Visitors. Parties suffering from Dys-
pepsia, Neuralgia, Chronic Diarrhoea, Spermalorrhcea, Fluor Albus,
Amenorrhoea, General Debility, and especially Incipient Consump-
tion, will find the most decided and beneficial results following
the use of these Waters.

B^° Valuable as these Waters are admitted to be when used
as a Beverage, the great charm of the place, pleasurably, hygi-
enically, and medicinally, is found in the large Inclosed Pools
for Plunge Bathing, and in the well-arranged Shower and Tub
Baths of any degree of temperature that may be desired.

Taking the Bathing facilities here, all and in all, they are be-
lieved to be equal, or superior, to any elsewhere to be found in
the country.

B^" Arrangements have been made for the residence at the
Springs, during the Season, of a highly-competent Physician.

JOHN KELLY, Proprietor.

(18)

WADE a BOYKIN,

]Sro. 3 LIBERTY ST.,

IMPORTERS AND WHOLESALE DEALERS IN

Etc. Etc.

In addition to calling (he attention of Dealers and Physicians
to our carefully selected stock in our current business, we de-
sire to elicit the attention of the general public to Dr. Wade's

Liver Corrector and Dyspepsia Cure.

Dr. Wade, having used this medicine with great success ia
his private practice for many years, has been induced to allow
it to be put up under his especial care for general use in the
diseases for which he has successfully prescribed it.

We confidently recommend a trial of this remedy to those
who are afflicted with diseases of the Liver or Stomach, or with
Constipation cf the Bowels, for the cure of which it is a prompt,
safe, and reliable remedy.

It is purely Vegetable in composition, and free from all alco-
holic admixture. It has been successfully employed by many
of the leading citizens of this and other States.

In addition to the diseases above mentioned, this remedy has
been very successfully used for the relief of Sick Headache,
Jaundice, and in biliary conditions of the system generally,

B@* For sale by Druggists generally. "®a

(19)

WARM SPRINGS,

BATH COUNTY, VA.

This famous Spa, long distinguished for its luxurious Bathing
facilities, and for the cure of many diseases properly treated by
Warm Bathing, is open for the reception of Visitors.

Among the diseases for the cure of -which these Waters have
long been distinguished, we mention Atonic Gout, Rheumatism,
Lymphatic enlargements, Paralysis, Obstructions of the Liver and
Spleen, Syphiloid affections. Cutaneous diseases, Nephritic and
Calculous disorders, and the various chronic forms of Female
Obstructions.

The facilities here for efficient and pleasant Pool Bathtnq
are not surpassed in America. The arrangement of Pools and
Dressing- Rooms exclusively for Ladies commands universal ap-
proval.

|@° The facilities for Amusements usually found at fashion-
able Watering-Places.

Jg@° These Springs are distant from Millboro', on the Chesa-
peake and Ohio Railroad, 15 miles; from Covington, on the
same road, 22 miles. From both places, pleasant and safe
Coaches run over good roads in connection with the Railroad
Gars.

Travelers from the North should leave the Cars at
Millboro'. Those from the West, at Covington or Millboro'.

J5@" Telegraphic Office in Hotel.

B@° An experienced Physician resides at the place.

g^° Pamphlets forwarded, by mail, on application.

JOHN L. EUBANK,

Acting Partner and Superintendent,

(20)

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS,

Greenbrier County, W. Va.

■ <t> ■

The undersigned beg leave to announce that these Springs,
so long celebrated for their valuable Alterative Watebs, their
charming summer climate, and the large and fashionable crowds
that annually resort to them, v^ill be open for the Season of
1873 on the

Their capacity for accommodation is from 1500 to 2000
persons.

fi@°" Pi-of. Rosenberger's celebrated Band will be in attend-
ance to enliven the Laicns and Ball-Room.

B^"" Masquerades and Fancy Balls as usual through the
Season.

fi@° An extensive Livery for the use of Visitors.

HOT AND WARM SULPHUR BATHS,

80 eificacious in many cases, always at the command of the
Visitor.

Jg®" The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad is now in excellent
running order to the Springs both from the East and West.

S^^ A Telegraph Line is in operation to the Springs.

CHARGES FOR THE SEASON.

Board per day $3.00

" " month of 30 days . . . 80.00
Children and Colored Servants, half price.
White Servants, according to accommodations furnished.

J8@° We have the pleasure to announce to those who design
to visit the Springs, that Prof. J. J. Moorman, M.D., well known
as the author of several valuable books on Mineral Waters,
and for 35 years the Physician to the White Sulphur, will be
at the Springs this summer in that capacity.

GEO. L. PEYTON & CO.

White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., March, 1873.

(21)

YELLOW SULPHUR SPRINGS,

Near Christiansburg,
Montgomery County, Va.

These Springs, so long distinguished for their active Tonic
and valuable Alterative powers, will be opened for the Season of
1873 ON THE First day of June.

JU^^ The facilities for Amusement and Recreation usually
found at first-class Watering- Places will be found here.

Jg^" Telegraphic and Express lines are in operation to the
Springs.

Jg^° Hut and Warm Baths of the Mineral Water, so essential
to many invalids, at command of the Visitors.

Extensive additional improvements are now in progress, to
be completed by the commencement of the season, among others,
a large and commodious Hotel with all the modern improvements.

The immense increase of visitation to this place within the
last few years has made such extension of our improvements
a necessity.

These Springs arise with great boldness near the summit
of the Alleghany Mountain, more than 2000 feet above the level
of the sea, the most elevated and coolest summer resort in Virginia ;
the climate being as salubrious, and the air as elastic and in-
vigorating, as can well be imagined.

As an efficient Tonic, this water has maintained an unsur-
passed reputation for seventy years. As an Alterative in many
chronic affections, it has proved a blessing to thousands.

Owing to its fine tonic and alterative powers, its therapeutic
applicabilities are extensive, but especially has it exhibited its
curative powers in Dyspepsia, and chronic affections of the
Abdominal Cavity ; in General Debility and Nervous Prostration.
In various chronic affections of the Skin, in Kidney disorders,
and in Chlorosis and kindred female affections, it has had a very
large success.

8®" For Terms, which will be moderate, see our Pamphlet,
which will be sent on application.

J8@° Excursion Tickets to the place can be obtained at all
the principal Railroad Offices.

J. J. & J. WADE, Proprietors.

Yellow Sulphur Springs, Va., March, 1873.

(22)