154 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences^ Arts and Letters. 



ON THE MINERAL WELL AT WATERLOO, WIS. 



BY REV. O. A. WHIGHT, A. M., NEW LISBON. 



Tlie well referred to in tliis paper was dug in tlie fall of 

 1857. A strong vein of water was found at about ten feet 

 below tbe surface, and in a stratum of sand some two feet thick. 

 The direction of its flow was from north to south — opposite 

 to the course of Waterloo creek. It flows from underneath a 

 ridge some twenty or thirty feet high, which seems to be noth- 

 ing more than the ordinary swell of the prairie, with nothing 

 peculiar in its geological formation, being mainly formed of 

 what is usually known as the glacial drift. The vein is not 

 inexhaustible, but gives the well a capacity of about twenty- 

 five barrels a day. 



The mineral properties were first discovered when it acted 

 as a cathartic upon the horses that were watered at the well ; 

 this being the only purpose for which the well was used, on 

 account of its peculiar taste. A gallon of water was sent to 

 Mr. J. H. Tesch, of Milwaukee, by whose analysis it was 

 found to contain : 



Grains. 



Chloride of sodium 23,345 



Chloride of potassium 7 ,060 



Chloride of calcium 28 , 779 



Chloride of lithium 12, 039 



Nitrate of soda 36,017 



Sulphate of magnesia 11 ,490 



Bi-carbonate of magnesia 15 , 786 



Bi-carbonate of lime 13 ,416 



Silica 1, 343 



Total 149, 275 



