342 Description of the High Rock Spring. 



of Naples, while this fountain, in its place, would have been 

 deservedly celebrated in story, and spread upon canvas, ta 

 the admiration of the world, as one of its greatest curiosities. 



The valley, in which all the mineral springs at this place 

 are situated, is terminated, on both sides, by steep banks 

 which rise from twenty to forty feet above the level of the 

 little stream, which passes between them. On the easterr* 

 side, this bank consists of sand and coarse gravel, evidently 

 resting upon a bed of marl, which, every where forms the bed 

 of the valley. From near the base of this bank burst numer- 

 ous fresh water springs, which, by the help of a forcing pump, 

 supply a great part of the village, which stands upon the op- 

 posite bank, with a very pure and wholesome water. 



On the western side, the bank is composed of materials 

 altogether different. It consists of a very pure shell lime- 

 stone of a blue color, alternating with a kind of calcareous 

 sandstone, in the latter of which are imbedded large masses 

 of hornstone, together with crystals of quartz in great abun- 

 dance. It contains likewise chalcedony and agate, and some 

 few specimens of organic remains, but they are not found 

 in it in so great abundance as in its associate limestone. — 

 The whole of this formation seems to terminate here, and 

 nearly in a perpendicular direction, as none of it is discover- 

 able on the opposite side of the valley. All the rock forma- 

 tion found in that direction belongs to the transition class. — 

 The mineral springs occupy stations which warrant the 

 belief that they have their origin, or pass up from a greater 

 depth, at, or near the junction of these two formations, trans- 

 ition and secondary. 



The spring, which it is the object of this memoir to des- 

 cribe, is situated but a few steps from the bottom of the lime- 

 stone ledge, on the western border of the marsh ; and the 

 rock, which surrounds and encloses it, rests on the surface 

 of the marl, or is but slightly connected with it. This rock 

 is of a conical shape. It narrows rapidly as it rises from the 

 earth, and terminates in a rounded top, in the centre of which 

 is a circular opening which leads to the interior cavity ; it 

 gradually widens as the rock enlarges, leaving its walls near- 

 ly of an equal thickness throughout. In this cavity the wa- 

 ter rises some distance above the surrounding earth, and is 

 there seen constantly agitated by the incessant escape of 

 carbonic acid gas, for which the vacancy, above the water, 

 forms a capacious and secure reservoir, where the curioi-W= 



