THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 13 



surface or flowing into an imconfined subterranean channel, the 

 result being that some of the mineral matter held in solution is thereby 

 precipitated. Other changes may also occur owing to the mingling 

 in subterranean crevices of several streams of water characterized by 

 a content of different mineral salts, some of which may be chemically 

 incompatible in solution; the direct result of such mingling is there- 

 fore a deposition of a portion of the mineral matter. 



The quantity and character of the mineral matter held in solution 

 hi the mineral waters of any region may therefore be taken as a partial 

 index of the work, both chemical and physical, performed by the 

 water in its passage through the various strata forming the earth's 

 crust, and, as has been truly said, 1 "The rock formations of the earth 

 to the depths to which ground water penetrates are to be looked upon 

 as a sort of chemical laboratory through which waters are circulating 

 in all directions charged with all sorts of chemical substances." 



A mineral water is not therefore a simple but a complex substance 

 which may vary from time to time, and, indeed, there is reason to 

 believe that some springs may have both a slight, periodic, and 

 seasonal variation. Such changes, however, either in flow or in the 

 character of the mineral content, are generally accepted as evidence 

 of a shallow or local origin, or, to state the matter conversely, when a 

 spring flow is constant as to quantity and character, it may be 

 accepted as evidence of a deep-seated source of supply. This is par- 

 ticularly true if a spring is at all highly mineralized. However, 

 changes due to artificial causes should not be confounded with 

 changes due to natural causes. Thus, certain springs in New York 

 have greatly decreased in mineral content in recent years, owing 

 undoubtedly to the very great amount of water taken from them and 

 from deep wells which have been drilled to tap the source of supply 

 and increase the output, while certain well-known mineral waters of 

 the Middle West obtained from wells are pumped only one day in 

 every seven to ten day period. If pumped oftener the mineral con- 

 tent falls to less than half its normal quantity. 



PROBLEM FOR IITVESTIGATION. 



Statistics of the mineral water industry of the United States 

 compiled by Sanford 2 show that there was produced in 1908 (the 

 latest statistics available) over 56,000,000 gallons of bottled mineral 

 waters, with a value at the springs of $7,287,269. Tlu's value, how- 

 ever, does not begin to represent the total value of the industry. 

 Probably an amount of water of equal value was furnished to guests 

 at our many mineral-spring resorts. A large but unknown quantity 



1 Chamberlain and Salisbury. Geology, v. 1, 1904. 

 a U. S. Geological Survey, Mineral Resources, 19C8. 



