MINERAL SPRINGS. 296 



limpid than tin- 'v////a delasarna." Though extremely unpleasant to the palate, both are 

 id. n -l.-ss iiml crystalline, nor is any odor perceptible at the bursting of the gas-bubble* constantly 

 as, .inline in tin- k - .I'fiia de la sarna." The lessee of the baths told me that t h-re are great differ- 

 ences in the taste and temperature of the water under varied circumstances; that the taste- in 

 winter <liHcrc.l fn>m that of summer, and that the waters from the Canita are not only warmer 

 at ni^lit tlian during the day, but are also at a higher temperature in rainy than in cloudy 

 weather. And an anecdote may be recited of a fellow-countryman, showing how powerful is 

 the iniliH -in -c of popular impn^sions. He was with me at the visit when the lessee told of 

 (lilfcrcnces of temperature, and received each statement as so many Gospel truths. During 

 the visit, clouds had accumulated over the previously unobscured sky, and a slight shower 

 of rain fell within three hours from the time we had left Santiago. Ten minutes later he 

 assured me that the water was much warmer than when he had put his hand in it after our 

 arrival ; but, unfortunately, the thermometer told a different story. The temperature of the 

 air had fallen nearly five degrees, and he had only been able to detect the difference between 

 the temperature of the air and water at the two periods. There is no greater difference between 

 the temperatures of the springs on the two sides of the ravine than would result from the fact 

 that the "Agua de la sarna" bubbles through sand and remains in the bath; while the " Agua 

 de la canita," on which the experiment can be made, is only a diminutive jet. In the early days 

 of April the former showed 74. 5, the latter 74. 3 ; and in November following they varied less 

 than half a degree a difference which maybe explicable by the graduation of the thermometers 

 used on the two occasions. There was a striking similarity in the atmospheric temperature at 

 both periods. The November experiment was made near noon, with the air at 57. 2 ; the 

 November trial at 6 A. M., with the air at 57. 7. 



Analyses of the waters have been made by Profs. Domeyko and J. Lawrence Smith. The 

 former says of them : " It is neither acid nor alkaline ; it exercises no action on vegetable 

 colors, and saline matters appear only by boiling, part o these forming a pellicle on the sur- 

 face and part sinking to the bottom. The air that escapes during ebullition barely discolors 

 water of barytes, showing that it scarcely contains any traces of carbonic acid. There is no in- 

 dication of sulphur either as sulphate or hydrosulphate, and the porportion of sulphate of lime 

 is very small. But that which is most notable in the water of Apoquindo is, 1st, the great 

 quantity of salts contained, and which reach to nearly a maximum containable by the most 

 energetic mineral waters ; 2d, its great proportion of chloride of calcium ; and 3d, the almost 

 entire absence of carbonates, or free carbonic acid. Its constituents are : 



Chloride of calcium 2.165 



Chloride of PCX! i urn 1.177 



Chloride of magnesia 0.034 



Sulphnte of lime O.O.V2 



Iron and alumina 0.020 



Silica 0.035 



Organic matter .a trace. 



1.849 



Prof. J. Lawrence Smith's analysis will be found in Appendix D. 



The physicians of Santiago have found these waters valuable in the glandular affections suc- 

 ceeding adenitis, and the rheumatic diseases that often follow ; also in cases of cachexia and 

 chronic affections of the kidneys and abdominal regions, that prevail to an extraordinary degree 

 in the country, and result from the quality and quantity of food consumed. 



Two rows of wretched and unblanched ranches, numbering a dozen windowless rooms with 

 earthen floors, are the only accommodations offered to the invalid who seeks health at the waters 

 of Apoquindo ; nor are the conveniences for bathing much more attractive. The baths are 

 thirty or forty feet below, and fifty yards distant from the ranchos. They are mere holes in 

 the ground, two feet deep, three lect wide, and five feet long, which have been scooped from the 



