366 Mineral Waters of Canada. 



parts of the enclosure were three or four smaller cavities partly 

 filled with a water more or less acid, and evolving a small quantity 

 of gas. The temperature of the larger spring was 56° F., that 

 of the smaller one 56° near the surface, but on burying the ther- 

 mometer in the soft mud at the bottom it rose to 60-5°. 



A large glass jar was filled with water, and to three bottles into 

 which a solution of arsenic had been previously introduced, were 

 added thirty cubic inches of water ; these were then carefully 

 sealed and transported to the laboratory at Montreal. 



Examination of the Water. — The specific gravity was found 

 to be 1-005583. A solution of nitrate of silver did not sensibly 

 affect it, shewing the absence of chlorine, but salts of baryta produ- 

 ced at once a copious precipitate insoluble in any acid, indicating 

 that the acid present in the water was the sulphuric ; the usual 

 tests applied to the recent water shewed the iron to be in a state 

 of proto-salt, a condition indeed necessarily connected with the 

 presence of sulphuretted hydrogen. When concentrated by evap- 

 oration with the addition of a little nitric acid, ammonia gave a 

 copious red-brown precipitate, a portion of organic matter in the 

 liquid interfered with the perfect precipitation of the iron, and 

 hydro-sulphuret of ammonia was consequently added at the same 

 time. The precipitate thus obtained after being thoroughly 

 washed, was dissolved in hydrochloric acid, then boiled with ni- 

 tric acid, filtered and precipitated by ammonia, with the previous 

 addition of sal-ammoniac, and again filtered. The transparency 

 of the filtrate thus obtained, was not disturbed by hydro-sulphu- 

 ret of ammonia, indicating the absence of manganese and other 

 metals of this class, including zinc, nickel and cobalt. The pre- 

 cipitate was in part soluble in a solution of potash ; the soluble 

 portion was alumina, and the residue peroxyd of iron with a lit- 

 tle magnesia. The alumina obtained from the alkaline solution 

 was found to contain traces of phosphoric acid ; by dissolving it 

 in hydrochloric acid, adding tartaric acid, ammonia in excess and 

 sulphate of magnesia, a slight granular precipitate of ammonio- 

 magnesian phosphate was obtained. 



The filtrate from the original precipitate by hydrosulphuret of 



ammonia, gave an abundant precipitate of lime, by oxalate of 



ammonia, and the filtrate from this precipitate yielded, when con- 

 centrated and mixed with ammonia and a solution of phosphate 

 of soda, a granular precipitate of phosphate of magnesia and am- 

 monia. 



Another portion of this filtrate was evaporated to dryness, and 

 ignited to expel the ammoniacal salts ; the soluble salts in the res- 

 idue were dissolved in water and mixed with a solution of chlorid 

 of barium and excess of caustic baryta, and the mixture heated; 

 to the filtrate from the precipitate thus obtained, were added car- 

 bonate of ammonia and excess of caustic ammonia, and the whole 





