HYDROLOGY. 147 



The small amount of organic matter in these springs is doubtless 

 derived from the surface by the descending water. 



To enter into a consideration of the medicinal character of those 

 springs that have attained a reputation for remedial virtues, would 

 transcend our space, if not our province, and so long as medical 

 science depends rather upon experimental results than theoretical 

 considerations, it might possess little value if attempted. The use of 

 these waters has been recommended by many physicians of high 

 standing, and the results that have attended such use have been of a 

 highly satisfactory character. That there are differences in the com- 

 parative merits of the several springs is undoubted, but it is not the 

 prerogative of this report to decide between them. It may be said of 

 them as a class that they are free from any excessive amount of salts, 

 which are objectionable when present in large quantities, though use- 

 .fnl when the amount does not exceed the demands of the human 

 system. For example, a certain amount of lime is needed by the 

 body for the maintenance of its bony frame- work and the perform- 

 ance of other functions, and in the opinion of many authorities this 

 may be advantageously supplied through the medium of the water 

 ingested; but an excessive amount of lime salts is conceded to be 

 conducive to certain ailments. If the amount exceeds that which can. 

 be held in solution in the various conditions through which the water 

 passes in the system, it is certainly to be regarded as excessive, for a 

 portion of it must be deposited. The quantity of lime salts of most 

 'of the noted springs elsewhere exceeds by many fold the average 

 quantity found in these. It is to be further noticed that most of these 

 ingredients are invariable, if not normal, constituents of the human 

 body, and that the hygienic character of the water is beyond question. 

 It remains to consider briefly the geological position of those that 

 have attained a greater or less reputation for medicinal properties. 

 The Bethesda, Hygeia, Mineral Rock, White Rock, and Fountain 

 Springs at Waukesha, flow from the upper portion of the middle 

 division of the Niagara limestone which is capped, in the vicinity, 

 by the upper beds, known as the Racine limestone. 



The Jloreb Spring of this place issues from the drift, which is 

 here largely gravel or marly clay derived from the above formations. 

 The Beloit lodo-Magnesian Springs flow from the lower portion of 

 the Trenton limestone, a lower horizon than the preceding or fol- 

 lowing. 



The Siloam of Milwaukee, the Oakton of Pewaukee, the Palmyra, 

 springs, the Sheridan of Geneva, the Gihon and Barnes of Delavan, 

 the Nemabin of Oconomowoc, Richmond's, near Whitewater, and 



