a Account of a North American Quadruped, 
the stilphate and carbonate, that the greater number of hard wa- 
ters owe this peculiar quality. 
2. It is to be remembered that simply boiling the Black Rock 
water is not sufficient to render it soft. T'o produce this effect, 
the boiling must be continued for fifteen or twenty minutes. And 
this fact serves to explain a seeming paradox. It is generally 
admitted that hard waters do not draw tea so well as soft waters : 
yet the hard water at Black Rock is said to answer extremely _ 
well for this purpose. But in most cases, it may be observed, the 
water is uninteationally allowed to boil at least fifteen or twenty 
minutes previous to the making of the tea; and thus the hard 
water, without any design, is rendered soft. I have however 
heard occasional complaints of the tea not drawing well, or 
much worse than usual. In such instances, it seems reasonable 
to suppose that the water really was hard, having been merely 
brought to boil, and immediately poured upon the tea. Hence 
the expediency of allowing the Black Rock wat:r to boil for some 
time previous to making tea with it. 
From the experiments I have made upon the Black Rock water, 
{ am of opinion that, after it has been boiled the requisite time 
mentioned, it is well adapted for every domestic and manufac- 
turing purpose. It loses its nauseous flavour, and almost the whole 
of its earthy matter, and becomes perfectly well tasted. Cer- 
tainly, boiled water is rather insipid for drinking, when compared 
with spring water, owing, it is conceived, to the separation of air. 
But this defect might be easily remedied :—If, for example, the 
boiled water, when cold, were made to ooze slowly through a- 
filtering vessel, or passed through a large stone or a piece of 
wood pierced with a number of small holes, or even through a 
very fine sieve, the water by such exposure would absorb pure 
atmospheric air, lose its insipidity, and would afford to water- 
drinkers a pleasant and wholesome beverage. 
- Cork Institution, June 16, 1818. 
Il, Account of a North American Quadruped supposed to be- 
long to the Genus Ovis ; by Gzorcz Orp*. 
Rocky-Meuntain Sheep—Ovis montana. 
In the Journal of Lewis and Clark, there is an account of a 
quadruped which appears to have not excited that attention 
- which it merits, The following extracts are made from the 
above-mentioned works: ‘‘ Saw the skin of a mountain sheep, 
* From Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 
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