^^ SULPHUR SPRIXCS. 



to Europe; its wide mouth shews that it denv^ 

 its food from insects, and its crv in the night 

 altliough the call of love, tends to inspire melan- 

 choly. 



es 



LETTER IX. 



Suljyhnr Sj)rings, near Geneva, June, 1S20. 

 I^Iydear Sir, 



I arrived here a few days ago. On my 

 approach, my olfactory nerves were greeted by 

 a sulphurous smell, like the fabulous exhalations 

 of the Stygian Lake. The accommodations 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. I have much to say on these 

 phenomena. 



Besides the usual loss of water by soakager 

 leakage, and wastage, on the canal, a considerable 

 quantity will be spent in evaporation. In some 

 countries the evaporation exceeds the rain. 

 In others itflUls short, particularly in Great Bri- 



