ORIGIN OF BRINE SPRINGS. 119 



Origin of the Brine Springs. 



The origin of the brine springs in our State is a subject of considerable interest, whether 

 considered in a scientific or a practical point of view. It has heretofore been observed, that 

 in consequence of the superior strength of the Onondaga brines, they are almost the only ones 

 from which salt may be said to be manufactured in this State. Great benefits have already 

 accrued from the numerous borings which have recently been executed in the great salt basin. 

 None can doubt that the discovery of a brine containing a still larger proportion of pure salt, 

 would be of vast importance, as it would greatly reduce the expense of the manufacture and 

 the price of the salt. In the absence of a more detailed series of observations than we now 

 possess, we may perhaps arrive at some conclusions in regard to the prospect of attaining such 

 a desirable result in future explorations, by a c&reful examination of the circumstances con- 

 nected with the origin of these springs. 



Upon the supposition that the whole of the interior of this continent was originally covered 

 with the waters of the primeval sea, it is not difficult to imagine that these waters may have 

 remained in various places after the general subsidence, and that by long continued evapora- 

 tion they may have been brought to the state of concentration which we find in these brines. 

 The extent to which this evaporation must have been carried in the present instance, will appear 

 from the fact that sea-water rarely contains more than four per cent, of saline matter, whereas 

 the Salina brine yields from fourteen to eighteen per cent. But a serious objection to this 

 theory of the origin of our brine springs is, that they are usually at some distance below the 

 surface of the earth, where it is difficult to see how the process of evaporation could have 

 taken place. Moreover, if the increase in the strength of the brine was due to this cause, it 

 would be fair to infer that this process of concentration was still going on, and that the brine 

 was constantly though gradually becoming stronger ; of which there seems to be no proof.* 



Professor Eaton has advanced the opinion that the brine is produced by combinations con- 

 tinually in progress between the elementary njaterials furnished by the subjacent rock, and 

 some of the superincumbent strata.t This view is thought to be supported by the fact observed 

 by him, that crystals of salt were formed upon a fragment of the saliferous rock, when exposed 

 to a moist atmosphere. Another fact turned to the same account, is of sufficient interest to 

 merit particular attention. It is the occurrence, in the saliferous rock, of hopper-form cavities 

 and crystals, resembling those of salt formed during an intermission in the application of heat, 

 and commonly known by the name of Sunday salt. There are several localities in which 

 these curious productions can be examined. In some cases the hopper-form cavities only are 

 to be found, but in others there are entire strata of regular crystals. Of the latter, the finest 

 exhibition that I have" seen, is on the route of the Auburn and Syracuse railroad, about half 

 a mile from the village of Camillus ; where for some distance the marly clay, which undoubt- 



* See the facu stated on page 105, in regard to general uniformity in the strength or the Salina brine for the last forty years. 

 The periodical variations to whi^^h it, as well as that from other wells is subject, is owing to the different quantities drawn from 

 them by the pumps. t Canal Rocks, page 108. 



