THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



145 



ECONOMY IN CANDLKS. 



If you are wiihoiii a ruslilighl, niul vvoiiKl bum 

 a caiidic all ni>j:lit, unless you use the lulloivinir 

 precaution, ilis ten to one an ordinary candle will 

 gutter away in an hour or two, s^omeliines to l!ic 

 endangering the salety of the house. Tills may 

 be avoided by placing as much common salt, 

 finely powdered, as will reach from the tallow to 

 the bottom of the lilack part of the wick of a 

 partly burnt candle, wlien, if llie same be lit, it 

 will burn very slowly, yielding sutficient light lor a 

 bedchamber; the salt will gradually sink as the 

 taliovv Is consumed, the melted tallow being drawn 

 through the salt, and consumed in the wick. — 

 £conomist. 



A CHBMICATv AND GKOIOGICAt- ACCOUNT OF 

 THE SHOCCO SPRINGS. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



The followirig account ol'a spring, once in high 

 repute and still the liivorite resort of tl;e elite oC 

 North Carolina, will, it is presumed, [)Os>ess suffi- 

 cient Interest to juslily lis publication. This sprins 

 is situated In Warren county, North Carolina, and 

 is the source of one ol the rumor tributaries ol' 

 Tar Kiver. It rises in a talco-micaceous slate, 

 belonying to a class oC rocks generally considered 

 primary, and hence referred to an igneous origin. 

 Ills however contended, by a modern school of 

 geologists, that this class of formations was origi- 

 nally deposited from water, and subsequently 

 altered by heat, they are hence called meta/nur- 

 phic rocks. Of the truth of*this theory, trium|)h- 

 ant proof is atibrded by the band ol rock<in which 

 this sprmg originates, as the alteration may be 

 traced by slight gradations, from a condition in 

 which the rocks retain unequivocal prools of ihelr 

 aqueous origin, to one in which these characters 

 have been entirely ellaced and destroyed by igne- 

 ous action, and so much disguised by it, and made 

 so intimately to resemble rocks of igneous origin, 

 that they would be unhesitatingly relerred to this 

 class ol formations, were it not possible to trace 

 their history by the characters, above mentioned. 

 Additional confirmation of the oceanic origin of 

 these rocks is afiorded by the saline ingredients 

 ol' tills spring — ingredients ol' course derived from 

 saline impregnation in tlie rocks, which could 

 alone have derived them from the ocean, the 

 only known source of iliem. I believe this is the 

 fiist published account of a spring of this compo- 

 sition rising in rocks of this character. Similar 

 ingredients are common in springs rising in Ibrma- 

 tions known to be ol oceanic origin. The Bath 

 water, quoted below, contains similar Ingredients ; 

 but this water rises in a li)rmation abounding in 

 marine remains, which sufficiently attest its ma- 

 rine origin. The >5liocco spring, belongs to the 

 class ol sulphurelled waters, as, in addition to the 

 solid ingredients mentioned below, it contains 

 sulphuretted hydrogen ; which, thouoh not evolved 

 in sufficient quantity to be perceptible to the eye, 

 is evident, both tu the taste and smell, and was 

 proved to be present by chemical tests. From the 

 want of the requisite apparatus at the springs, the 

 amount of sulphuretted hydrogen could not be 

 ascertained, and owing to lis gaseous nature could 

 Vol. IX.— 10 



not be preserved fJir analysis elsewhere. The 

 spring Is generally free from deposiie ol every kind ; 

 in one instance alone, was a small deposite of the 

 white hydrate of sulphur detected, |)ossessing the 

 usual singular arborescent form, which, it is said 

 by Professor Daubeny of Oxiord, is causrd by 

 lis being deposited upon a peculiar vegetable flin- 

 giliirous substance, to which he gives the name of 

 glairine. 



Shocco. 

 1 gallon of water contains of 



Muriate of soda 7.234 grs. 



Sulphate of soda 1.041 " 



Sulphate of lime 51.370 "' 



Carbonate of lime* 8.555 " 



Muriate of alumina a trace. 



Phosphate of alumina a trace. 



t Total, ■ 68.200 " 



Temp. Sept. G(h, 1840. 59 degrees. 

 Bath. 

 1 pint of water contaius of 



Carbonate of lime 



Sulphate of soda 



Sulphate of lime 



Muriate of soda 



Silica 



Oxide of iron a (race. • 



Total, 15.1 " 



To show the close resemblance in composition 

 of this spring to the Bath water, (England,) so 

 celebrated lor its medicinal virtues, the analysis 

 of the latter by the celebrated Phillips, is annexed. 

 The (brthcoming work of my friend, Professor 

 Wm. B. Rogers, on the Virginia Springs, will 

 afiord a comparison with the springs of that state. 

 Experience has proved this water to be a stimulant 

 tonic. Aperient, cathartic, diuretic, diaphoretic, 

 emmenagogueand alterative. Most of these pro- 

 perties would naturally be expected from the re- 

 spective medical qualities of the dlHerent ingre- 

 dients contained in the water. Some of the enu- 

 merated properties cannot be thus accounted for. 

 This, however, is by no means rare, as mineral 

 waters frequently possess medical properties whicli 

 cannot be referred to either of the contained in- 

 gredients, and which do not belong to the artificial 

 mixture of them ; although the imitation may 

 accurately represent the natural compound, both 

 in the nature and relative amount of the ingredi- 

 ents. It Is this which renders natural waters t-<j 

 much more efficacious than the artificial imita- 

 tions of them. To be convinced of the medical 

 value of this water it is only necessary to remem- 

 ber how large a class of chronic diseases originates 

 in the derangement of those organs, whose func- 

 tions would be controlled and regulated by an 

 agent possessed of the above-mentioned proper- 

 ties. The curative virtues of this water will, per- 

 haps, be most happily exercised upon those in- 

 habilants of malarial districts, suffering from a 

 derangement of the alvial secretions, funciioniil 

 afiiectionsof the alimentary canal, deranged depu- 



*Tiie straliiiii from which the spring issues was 

 found to contain a very appreciable amount of lime in 

 the form of a silicate. The existence of lime in the 

 soil may hence be inferred. 



t When the water was taken for analysis, the spring 

 vvi's swollen by rain — hence the amount of solid matter 

 mentioned in the analysis as corresponding to 1 gallon, 

 is probably less than the average quantity. 

 , t Derived from the sulphurated hydrogen. 



