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On the " MuFFA " of the Sulphur Springs at Valdieri. 

 By J. MoGGRiDGE^ F.G.S., Richmond. 



The baths of Valdieri, not far from a Piedmontese 

 town of that name, are situated in a valley on the northern 

 side of the Maritime Alps, and have long been celebrated, 

 not only for the coolness of their climate and the excellence 

 of their mineral waters, but also for the " Muffa," a sub- 

 stance occurring in one of those waters, which, while of great 

 medicinal value as an external 

 application, is interesting, when 

 viewed under the microscope, for 

 the vegetable, animal, and mineral 

 productions which it contains. 

 These baths are 4426 feet above 

 the level of the sea. Found in 

 those sulphur springs which have 

 a temjjerature of about fifty de- 

 grees Centigrade, the Muifa first 

 appears as tender mmute fila- 

 ments, soft and floating, of a 

 greenish- white colour, surrounded 

 by a mucilaginous milky-white 

 substance imbued with a sulphu- 

 rous deposit. Of little consistency 

 in its early state, it soon becomes 

 more substantial ; changing in 

 colour to violet, then light yellow, 

 and finally to a pale green. When 

 mature, the Muffa resembles a 

 gelatinous lard, carpeting the 

 rock down which the water flows. 

 The vegetable above referred to 

 was considered by Allioni to be 

 Ulva labyrinihiformis of Linnaeus. 

 In 1837 Fontan detected a dis- 

 tinct organization, describing it as 

 composed of white filaments from 

 ^j~roth to irrroth of a millimetre in diameter; tubular, cylindrical, 

 simple, devoid of septa, containing small semi-opaque globules, 

 collocated when young, and separated towards the ends of 

 the tubes in mature individuals. To this plant he gave the 

 name Sulphuraria, it not ha^ang been found in any except 

 sulphur springs. Delponte, of the Botanic Garden at Turin, 



Stalactic form of the Muffa 

 when not clinging to tlie 

 rock from which it depends. 



