FRANCE. 
‘Statistics like coal, but not continuous, and is sometimes render- 
—r~ ed impure by a mixture of pyrites. It is for the most 
691 
that they proceed from some natural magazine of rock _ Statisties 
salt in the neighbourhood, Such are the mineralogical “—Y—" 
mm os 
Peat earth, peat earth along 
met in a kind of rusty earth, of an ash co- 
, and sometimes occurs in masses of the weight of 
50lbs. about 5 or 6 toises ‘under the surface of the 
ground. It has been manufactured from time imme- 
morial, in the three vi alluded to, into rosaries, 
crosses, buttons for black dresses, &c. being an article 
of great consumption, chiefly in Spain. in 1786, it 
employed more than 1200 workmen, and the annual 
supply of the mineral was computed at 1000 quintals. 
Besides » to Germany, Italy, and the Levant, 
Spain i these jet manufactures ‘to the annual 
amount of 180,000 livres. ‘Latterly, however, the mines 
in France seem to have yielded a diminished supply, as 
jet was imported from Spain for the manufactures. 
Solid bitumen, or asphaltum, is obtained chiefly in the 
departments of the Ain and the Lower Rhine; ghatinoos 
bitumen, called pisalphaltus in the ent of the 
*uy de Dome; liquid bitumen, called naphtha and pe- 
in Auvergne, (as has already been noticed,) and 
in the de ts of the Herault, and the Lower Py- 
 renees.. Rosin is along the banks of the Rhone 
from Seisal to Fort Ecluse. is found in consider- 
able quantities in the of the Aveyron. In 
the province of Berry, ochre, which is used for melting of 
metals, and in dyeing: Beside the extensive morasses of 
the Somme, and Essone, which seem 
to have been used for fuel at'an early period, there are 
many other situations, particularly in the north-western 
departments of France, where this combustible sub- 
stance is found in or less women oar Within 
these few years, in consequence of the increasing scar- 
i fuel, the attention of the government, well as 
of the mountains of the Rouergue,’ already 
»the principal mine is at Simoze. 
ies of animal, of which the teeth 
copper | the turquois stone, are found 
in the depart of the Ain. Vitriol, ochres, sulphur, 
and excellent argil for ies, are also found in these 
mountains. I sorts of earths and sands used 
in manufactures, as kaolin or in earth, arena-~ 
ceous: F &e. nd in France. Be- 
sided thd tquttsteerdll Sreadhinis:ta‘the tuitiedlate neipts 
deveyitioahefy anes Stevan rte Serta, a 
7 near , tow erne, 
along the Rhine. These aes afd hard nd slid 
stones of a surprising size, some being 24 feet long 
Gi feet broads and. quarrics: of kind - vt} mo inck 
Salins in Franche Compté, some blocks from which are 
large as.to be ca of making columns of from 12 
igh. The marble quarries of the Pyrenees 
ly mentioned. hos ae 
at Salins in Franche Compté, about 
ate eterna pnsa and as many east from 
mixed with clay, 
gypsum, ied in different placés.’ “There 
are three distinct. ings, the. strongest of which 
contains 23 per cent. of salt, and the weakest only one. 
As not only the quantity, but also the strength of these 
sources, is increased, very soon after rain, it is probable 
_city' wall, ‘Phe tem 
ciréumstances connected with these springs, as given 
by Hassenfratz, in his “ Observations on the Salt’ 
Springs of Salins.”) With respect to the economical 
circumstances relating to. them, we may observe, that 
the Great Salt-work, as it is called, isa strong place’ 
by itself in the middle of the town, surrounded with 
thick walls, round and adjoining to which are build- 
ings for the wheel-works, cranes, &c. which serve to 
raise the waters, and for the furnaces, &c. employed 
in the manufacture. In other places are three great 
stone reservoirs, which together hold ubove 25,000 
hogsheads of water: there is also a fourth cistern in’ 
the nd, which holds above 15,000 hogsheads. 
he whole extent of the subterranean caves is about 
400 feet in length, by 50 or 60 in’ breadth; the de- 
scent isby 61 steps. At the bottom of this cave, there: 
issue from the same rock, within the space of 14 feet, 
six springs of salt, and two of fresh water. In another 
part of the cave aré six'or seven springs of salt water; 
along with ten or twelve of fresh water : the waters, of 
course, are kept quite separate.’ The‘salt water is col- 
lected in a bason, whence it is raised by wooden pails, 
linked together about a t_ wheel, which is turned 
by a horse. These pails are filled in the bason ; and 
whilst some are filling; the. others’ empty’ themselves 
into another bason'that stands higher, and outeof which 
re ies oh runs into the crabeeg tas The ditferent 
springs have different degrees mess)! If 1 ‘ewt; of 
witabiddes hue ypevtlucs at least: 18 dr 20 lib>of salt, the 
profit will not answer the expence: ~The overseers of 
the springs try the strength of the waters once a week, 
upon their report, those who mix them may do 
it in'a wr Hise 3 ‘according to their respective 
degrees of saltness; “In the evaporating process, there 
is nothing that-requires notice: ‘The surface, or upper 
most part of the salt; which, for its whiteness, bright~ 
ness, and: i, is called sé/ trié, is sent to Switzer- 
land-in casks; sold at’ a’ moderate price ; the re- 
mainder is moulded into cakes of three or four pounds 
weight. The salt is manufactured at Monter and Arq, 
as well as at Salins. There are also salt springs at’ 
Dieuze and Chateau-Salins, in the province of Lorraine, 
and salt refineries at’ Moyenvie, in the district of the- 
Three Bishoprics, ‘as it is called. |’ 
. Sea salt is made in’ great abundance ‘on the coast of Sea salt. 
France, particularly on the coaste of Brittany, Sain- 
tonge, Aunis, Normandy, Poitou, and Languedoc. The 
salt marshes of Saintonge and Aunis produce the best 
salt in Europe. “In the department of the Channel,’ 
salt is prepared from sea sand on a very extensive and 
beneficial plam ©) [te rr 
The principal‘mineral waters ’in France are those of Mineral 
Aix, Bagneres, “and . The waters of Aix in 
Provenee must have’ béen' known to the Romans, as the 
name of the town ig derived from Aqua Sextea, from 
the baths established in it by C. Sextius Calvinius. The 
source of the baths; however, was lost, till the begin- 
ning of the last century, when it was discoy in 
@ forthe foundation of a house, just without the 
ature of ‘the water is about the 
same as that of the Queen’s bath at Bath; its contents 
similar to those of Aix la Chapelle, principally sulphur, 
carbonate of lime; and muriate of soda. Bagneres, in 
the eastern part of Guienne, derives its name from its 
baths, which were frequented by the Romans. The 
hottest spring raises: the mercury in Fabrenheit’s ther- 
mometer to 123°, while the most moderate causes it to 
ascend only to 86.- Two are exactly equal in heat to 
