3b illississippe Waters, GG 
narrow, so that a transverse section, ina direction pere 
pendicular to the axis, presents a surface nearly triangular, 
but then, this prism is surmounted by a pyramid trunca- 
ted at the apex : a larger crystal and some smaller ones 
are pyramids only without prisms—the proportion of the 
diameter of the base to the perpendicular height is as 20 
to 30 and the diameter of the truncating surface near the 
vertex is as 8. ‘‘ Now” continues our correspondent “ I 
never before heard of pyramidal truncations, although in 
the emerald we see the terminal edges, bevelled or tran- 
cated, and the apex of the pyramids is truncated like that 
of the beryls in question.” ) 
Among the numerous specimens of Beryl in the collec- 
tion of Col. Gibbs there are only two which have a slight 
truncation of the terminal edges, presenting the commence- 
ment merely of a pyramid ; but among the Haddam beryls 
we have often observed the peculiarities mentioned above, 
still we cannot doubt that the specimens are true beryls 
although they have not been analysed.-—Edttor. 
August 9, 1824. 
5. Medicinal properties of the waters of the Mississippi— 
mineral impregnation of the well water of Henderson, 
Ohio. 
Extract ofa letter to the Editor. 
** My health being much enfeebled, necessity compelled 
me to take a trip to New Orleans for the sake of using the 
water of the Mississippi river. ‘The effect was salutary 
and the voyage a pleasant one. ‘The Mississippi water 
when freely drank, produces powerful effects—when. 
filtrated it is very clear, and may be drunk in large 
quantities without burthening the stomach. It cer- 
tainly possesses some properties not common to other 
waters, but its qualities | believe have never been 
examined by chemists. My ill health I attributed to 
the water of Henderson. It is strongly impregnated with 
some mineral. The common opinion is, that it is im- 
pregnated with copperas. The ground on which Hender- 
son and the country adjacent stand, has, from 40 to 60 
feet beneath the surface, a substratum of mineral coal, the 
beet for fuel and the forge that I ever saw. This coal is 
