Analysis of Sea Water. 21 



the specific gravity amounted to 1-0274. This appeared to be 

 the greatest weight. 



When weighed in fair weather in December, it was almost 

 1-0271; after rain I found it to be 1-0267. These variations 

 will of course depend entirely on the state of the weather. If the 

 atmosphere be bright, and no heavy rain has lately fallen, the 

 water will have, even close to the shore, the same specific weight 

 as out at sea, but after rain it is obvious that the sea-water close 

 to the shore will be most diluted. It is therefore indispensable 

 that the sea- water for examination should be taken at a distance 

 of several miles, that its specific weight should be ascertained, 

 and that the analysis should be performed from one and the 

 same dip, 



I cannot conclude this paper without drawing the attention of 

 medical men to the importance which the brine-springs on the 

 Continent have lately acquired, as, for instance, the springs near 

 Kissingen, the Adelheids-quelle, near Heilbroun, and above all, 

 the springs of Kreugnach, which have been found highly bene- 

 ficial in scrofulous diseases when internally administered, their 

 action being dependent entirely on the chlorides, iodides, and bro- 

 mides they contain. Sea-water would afford similar advantages 

 for bathing, and when evaporated to dryness, the residue might 

 be kept in earthen vessels, and thus be conveyed to any distance ; 

 and as its constituents are very soluble, sea-water in perfection, 

 might be procured at any place. The evaporation of sea- water 

 should be performed with care, and the ingredients kept by chem- 

 ists. One great advantage would accrue from this method, viz., 

 that sea-water could be had of any degree of concentration which 

 the practitioner might deem necessary. At the baths of Kreug- 

 nach, for example, extraordinary efiects have been produced 

 when from 40 to 70 quarts of the mother liquor were added to 

 the natural salt-water of that spring, and this mixture used for 

 bathing. 



German Spa, Brighton, June, 1839. 



