SOAPING GEVSEKS. 161 



in these watervS, tlieieby (•liiinyiiii;' their cliciMical coiiijx^.sitioii sufti- 

 ciciitly to aft'ect tlie point of cliullition. At the same time he remarks 

 tliat the <>eyser waters are probabk too dihite solutions to be niueli 

 intiiieneed by such additions. An.None who i^Iances at th(^ analyses of 

 the waters of the Hee Hive, b\>untain, and l'\'arless must see, i flunk, 

 that they are not only too dilute to undergo any marked ehange of 

 teuii)eratuie, but that the mineral eoustitiients consist mainly of tlie 

 earbomites and chlorides of the alkalis, associated with a relatively 

 large amount of free silica which wouhl remain unaeted upon by caustic 

 alkali. There is nothing iu the waters to be thrown down by the 

 addition of alkali or permit any chemical condHuations to be formed 

 by the addition of a small amount of soaj). The desire of tourists to 

 "soap a geyser" during their trip through the Park grows annually 

 with the increase of travel, so much so that there is a steady demand 

 for the Toilet soap of the hotels. If visitors could have their way, the 

 l)eautiful blue springs and basins of the geysers would be "in the 

 suds" constantly throughout the season. Throwing anything into the 

 hot springs is now prohibited by the Government authorities. It is 

 certainly detrimental to the preservation of the geysers, ami the 

 practice can not be too strongly condemned by all interested in the 

 ^N^ational lieservation. 



H. Mis. 114 11 



