SULPHUn Si-illXGS. 



to Europe ; its wide month shews i)iat it derives 

 its food from insects, and its cry in the nighi. 

 allhougii the call of love, tends to inspire melan- 

 choly. 



LETTER IX. 



Sidj)Juir Sjjrings, near Geneva, Jime, 1820. 

 jMydear Sir, 



I ARRIVED here a few days ago. On my 

 approach, my oiThctory nerves were greeted by 

 a sulphurous smell, like the fabulous exhalations 

 of the Stygian Lake. The av:commodations are 

 bad, the country delightful, the springs curious, 

 though not uncommon. A spring rises from the 

 earth and immediately forms a small stream. In 

 its ascent it passes through sulphur, and receives a 

 strong impregnation. The water being saturated 

 with this substance, deposits a concrete sediment. 

 Whether it can be turned to a useful account, I 

 cannot decide. 1 have much to say on these 

 phenomena. 



Besides the usual loss of water by soakage? 

 leakage, and wastage, on the canal, a considerable 

 quantity will be spent in evaporation. In some 

 countries the evaporation exceeds the rain. 

 In others it falls short, particularly in Great Bri- 



