274 Boracic Acid Lagoons of Tuscany. 



duces several thousand pounds sterling. The immense increase 

 in their value arose from the simplest of improvements, the 

 abandonment of the use of charcoal, and the application of the 

 heat of the lagoons or soffioni to the evaporation of their own wa- 

 ters. Improvements, however, and very important ones, particu- 

 larly by subjecting the waters to a succession of impregnations, 

 had been gradually introduced by a Signer Ciaschi, and the im- 

 portation of boracic acid from Tuscany into France, before 1817, 

 had been between 7000 and 8000 pounds, of a quality gradually 

 increasing in purity : but Ciaschi perished miserably, in conse- 

 quence of falling into one of the lagoons which he himself had 

 excavated, leaving his family in a state of extreme poverty. His 

 death (which happened in 1816) naturally threw a damp upon 

 adventure. The experiments were resumed in the following 

 year, and in the midst of violent claims and controversies, M. Lar- 

 derel has become the monopolist of the boracic productions of 

 Tuscany. 



With the increased productions of boracic acid has arisen an 

 increased demand, growing out of the more extensive application 

 of it to manufacturing purposes. In about four years the quan- 

 tity has been quadrupled by superior modes of extraction, and by 

 greater care employed in the collection of the boracic vapor. In 

 1833 about 650,000 Tuscan pounds were obtained, in 1836 two 

 millions and a half 



But it appears to me that the powers and riches of these extra- 

 ordinary districts remain yet to be fully developed. They exhibit 

 an immense number of mighty steam-engines, furnished by na- 

 ture at no cost, and applicable to the production of an infinite va- 

 riety of objects. In the progress of time this vast machinery of 

 heat and force will probably become the moving central point of 

 extensive manufacturing estalishments. The steam, which has 

 been so ingeniously applied to the concentration and evaporation 

 of the boracic acid, will probably hereafter, instead of wasting 

 itself in the air, be employed to move huge engines, which will 

 be directed to the infinite variety of production which engages 

 the attention of laboring and intelligent artisans ; and thus, in the 

 course of time, there can be little doubt, that these lagoons, which 

 were fled from as objects of danger and terror by uninstructed 

 man, will gather round them a large intelligent population, and 

 become sources of prosperity to innumerable individuals through 

 countless generations. 



