Spring and Mineral Waters. 53 
to offer a few remarks on the subject, which 
perhaps may benefit those who have not made 
the science of chemistry a peculiar object of 
study. 
Most writers consider the analysis of waters 
as a problem requiring great skill and acquain- 
tance with chemistry; but the modern im- 
provements in that science have rendered it 
much less so than formerly. It is true that the 
variety of elemenis sometimes found in water, 
and the extremely small quantities of them, 
are discouraging circumstances when the ob- 
ject of analysis is to ascertain both the hind 
and quantity of these foreign elements. ‘They 
may both however be investigated without 
much labour, when proper means are used ; 
and perhaps a little practice may render a 
person qualified to undertake the task, who 
is no great adept in chemical science in 
general. 
Most spring water that is obtained by sink- 
ing some depth into the earth, contains lime 
held in solution by some one or more acids, par- 
ticularly the carbonic and sulphuric acids. 
It is to these salts, the carbonate and sul- 
phate of lime principally, that spring water 
owes its quality of hardness, as it is called; 
a very singular and astonishing quality, when 
it is considered as produced by so extremely 
