PENNSYLVANIA MINERAL SPRINGS. 133 



Other springs of the world, not medicinal, have acquired 

 the same reputation "for the cure of a large number of 

 diseases." Of these are the Malvern springs, in England, 

 alluded to by Dr. Bell and others. The Malvern, acknow- 

 ledged to be of extreme purity, is said to "SOMETIMES 

 PURGE," and be serviceable in "chronic cutaneous diseases, 

 used externally and internally." The waters of Caledonia 

 are recommended to be used both by bath and internally. 



THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAIN SPRINGS 



Are situated near the summit of the Alleghany, in Cambria 

 County, at the point of crossing of the great thoroughfare 

 of the State, the road of the Central Rail-Road Company, 

 Cresson Station, near the contemplated mountain village of 

 Rhododendron. These springs are more than two thousand 

 feet above the level of the sea, surrounded by original forests, 

 amidst the range of vertebral knobs or spinous processes con- 

 stituting the highest line of water shedding, and the true 

 summit of the great Appalachian chain. There are here a 

 number of springs, which rise and flow from a small moun- 

 tain vale scooped out of the western side of the crest of the 

 Alleghany. At this elevated spot the tributaries of two 

 large rivers have their origin ; some of the rivulets flowing 

 east into the Atlantic through the channel of the Susque- 

 hanna and Chesapeake Bay, while others flow west through 

 the Conemaugh and Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. 

 The springs of this new watering-place exhibit the general 

 character of the waters of the Alleghany Mountain heights. 

 The greatest point of interest and attraction, the truly in- 

 valuable quality of a number of these springs, is their almost 

 absolute purity. The geological position of the place, or 

 the rock formations from which they flow, as already ex- 

 plained, is among the silicious and argillaceous masses in 

 the lower barren part of the bituminous coal series. Those 

 which flow exclusively through sand masses and slate, are 

 of course almost free from the presence of all earthy sub- 

 stances, as these rocks are but slightly soluble in cold water. 



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