5 i6 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



its fountains. Dr. Walton gives the analy- 

 sis of 15 of its springs, tabulating no less 

 than 23 of their constituents held in solu- 

 tion ; and of their general character he re- 

 marks : 



" The principal constituents of these 

 waters are chloride of sodium, the alkaline 

 carbonates, and carbonic-acid gas, hence 

 they may be termed alkaline-saline waters, 

 of which the famed Seltzer Spring of Nas- 

 sau is a typical example. In point of mer- 

 it, the Saratoga waters equal, if they do 

 not surpass, any of the kind in the world. 

 The large amount of carbonic acid which 

 they contain, and the favorable combina- 

 tion of ingredients, render them very easy 

 of digestion, and, to most persons, exceed- 

 ingly pleasant to the taste. Many wonder 

 why it is that during the hot months of the 

 year such numbers crowd to Saratoga, 

 thinking it only a whim of fashion ; but, 

 aside from social attractions or amusements, 

 there is a positive value in the water, and 

 pleasure in drinking it, which will always 

 attract multitudes to its fountains. These 

 waters are especially adapted to cases of 

 dyspepsia ; those depending on high living 

 and an engorged condition of the abdom- 

 inal viscera are peculiarly subject to their 

 beneficial influence. In jaundice, depend- 

 ing on catarrh of the biliary ducts, they 

 are curative, and they would undoubtedly 

 prove beneficial in cases of gall-stones with 

 a tendency to their continual formation and 

 passage. In engorgement of the liver, and 

 all conditions of abdominal plethora, they 

 are a valuable remedy." 



Of these waters which " equal, if they 

 do not surpass, any thing of the kind in the 

 world," some have been long tried, and 

 others are new discoveries. The celebrated 

 Congress Spring has had a world-wide repu- 

 tation from early in the century as one of 

 the most valuable of mineral waters. The 

 Hathorn Spring has only been known since 

 1868, but it furnishes an excellent water, 

 which is coming rapidly into favor. Dr. 

 Walton says : " In taste and general char- 

 acter, it resembles the Congress water, but 

 is stronger." These waters " bottle well," 

 that is, undergo no change by precipitation, 

 and are thus available for transportation to 

 multitudes who cannot visit the springs. 



The Geyser Spring, which also yields a 



strong and excellent water, has lately at- 

 tracted much attention. Our author says 

 of it: 



" This spring is one of the curiosities 

 of Saratoga. It was discovered in Feb- 

 ruary, 1870. During a dull season, the 

 owners of a bolt-factory, in which it is lo- 

 cated, concluded to bore for mineral water. 

 They chose the cellar of the factory in 

 which to operate. Having sunk a tube to 

 the depth of 154 feet, the water burst forth 

 in such a volume as to entirely inundate 

 the premises. On attaching a tube of 

 smaller calibre, the water was projected to 

 the height of 22 feet, and continues spout- 

 ing forth in an intermittent stream. It is 

 highly charged with carbonic-acid gas, so 

 much so that, when drawn from a faucet 

 into a glass, it foams up like soda-water. 

 It is also exceedingly rich in saline con- 

 stituents." 



Spencer's Descriptive Sociology. 

 Messrs. Williams & Xorgate have just is- 

 sued the prospectus of a unique and most 

 elaborate work by Mr. Herbert Spencer, 

 consisting to a large extent of the tabulated 

 material which he has accumulated for his 

 " Principles of Sociology." In preparation 

 for the latter work, requiring as bases of 

 induction large accumulations of data, fitly 

 arranged for comparison, Mr. Herbert Spen- 

 cer, some five years ago, commenced the 

 collection and organization of facts pre- 

 sented by societies of different types, past 

 and present. Though this classified com- 

 pilation of materials was entered upon slow- 

 ly to facilitate his own work, yet, after hav- 

 ing brought the mode of classification to 

 a satisfactory form, and after having had 

 some of the tables filled up, the results ap- 

 peared likely to be of such value that Mr. 

 Spencer decided to have the undertaking 

 executed with a view to publication: the 

 facts collected and arranged for easy refer- 

 ence and convenient study of their rela- 

 tions, being so presented, apart from hy- 

 potheses, as to aid all students of Social Sci- 

 ence in testing such conclusions as they 

 have drawn and in drawing others. The 

 work consists of three large divisions. 

 Each comprises a set of tables exhibiting 

 the facts as abstracted and classified, and a 

 mass of quotations and abridged extracts, 



