Rock Salt and Salines of the Holston. 177 



This brine therefore contains about twenty five per cent, of 

 olid matter, twenty four per cent, of which is pure chloride of 

 sodium. The richest of the New York brines, according to Dr. 

 Beck, contain but about fifteen per cent, of this ingredient, which 

 is there associated with the magnesian salts in addition to the 

 ingredients contained in the Holston brine. A wine pint of this 

 brine yielded of saline matter 2432.25 grains, equal in a gallon to 

 19458 grains, or 2.77 avoirdupoise pounds; therefore, by the or- 

 dinary process of direct evaporation, hereafter to be described, 

 eighteen gallons of the brine will produce one bushel of salt, 

 weighing fifty pounds. As the object of the above experiment 

 was to determine the practical value of the brine, the salt was 

 not reduced to absolute dryness, but to the ordinary dryness of 

 the salt of commerce. 



The annexed table from Van Rensselaer, with Dr. Beck's ad- 

 ditions, to which I have added the result of my experiment upon 

 the Holston brine, will afford a comparison of the strength of the 

 different brines of the United States. 



At Nantucket, Mass. 350 gals, sea-water yield 1 bushel of salt. 

 Boon's Lick, Mo. 450 gals, brine yield 1 bushel of salt. 

 Conemaugh, Pa. 300 " « " " " " 



Shawneetown, 111. 280 " " " " " " 



Jackson, Ohio, 213 " " " " " " 



Lockhart's, Miss. 180 " " " " " " 



Shawneetown, 111. ) 12 o u u « a a « 



2d saline, \ 



St. Catherine's, U. C. 120 " " " " " " 



Zanesville, Ohio, 95 * " " " " " 



Kenawha, Va. 75 " " " " " " 



Grand River, Ark. 80 " " " " ". " 



Illinois River, Ark. 80 " " " " " " 



Muskingum, Ohio, 50 " " " " " » 



Onondaga, N. Y. 41 to 45 « " " " " " 



Holston, Va. 18 " " " " « u 



The entire absence from this brine of the magnesian salts, so 

 prejudicial in other brines, and the extremely minute proportion 

 of the other salts present, precludes the necessity of those pre- 

 liminary operations practiced at other works for the separation 

 of these impurities. The water is first pumped into large reser- 

 voirs, where the impurities held in mechanical suspension are 



Vol xliv, No. 1.— Oct.-Dec. 1842. 23 



