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V. On the Boracic Acid Lagoons of Tuscany. By John 

 BowRiNG, LL.D.* 

 'T^HE borax lagoons of Tuscany are entitled to a detailed 

 -^ description. They are unique in Europe, if not in the 

 world; and their produce is become an article of equal im- 

 portance to Great Britain as an import, and to Tuscany as an 

 export. They are spread over a surface of about 30 miles, 

 and exhibit from the distance columns of vapour, more or 

 less according to the season of the year and state of the 

 weather, which rise in large volumes among the recesses of 

 the mountains. 



As you approach the lagoons, the earth seems to pour out 

 boiling water as if from volcanoes of various sizes, in a variety 

 of soil, but principally of chalk and sand. The heat in the 

 immediate adjacency is intolerable, and you are drenched by 

 the vapour, which impregnates the atmosphere with a strong 

 and somewhat sulphurous smell. The whole scene is one of 

 terrible violence and confusion — the noisy outbreak of the 

 boiling element — the rugged and agitated surface — the volumes 

 of vapour — the impregnated atmosphere — the rush of waters — 

 among bleak and solitary mountains. 



The ground, which burns and shakes beneath your feet, is 

 covered with beautiful crystallizations of sulphur and other 

 minerals. Its character beneath the surface at Mount Cer- 

 bole is that of a black marl streaked with chalk, giving it, at a 

 short distance, the appearance of variegated marble. 



Formerly the place was regarded by the peasants as the 

 entrance of hell, a superstition derived no doubt from very 

 ancient times, for the principal of the lagoons and the neigh- 

 bouring volcano still bear the name of Monte Cerboli {Mons 

 Cerheri). The peasantry never passed by the spot without ter- 

 ror, counting their beads, and praying for the protection of 

 the Virgin. 



The borax lagoons have been brought into their present 

 profitable action within a very few years. Scattered over an 

 extensive district, they are become the property of an active 

 individual, M. Larderel, to whom they are a source of wealth, 

 more valuable perhaps, and certainly less capricious, than any 

 mine of silver that Mexico or Peru possesses. The process 

 of manufacture is simple, and is effected by those instruments 

 which the localities themselves present. The soffioni, or va- 

 pours, break forth violently in different parts of the mountain 

 recesses. They only produce boracic acid when they burst 

 with a fierce explosion. In these spots artificial lagoons are 



* From Dr. Bowring's Report on the Statistics of Tuscany. 



