86 REPORT UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



obtained. The spring alongside is lead-colored and has a deposit of 

 alum around it. It is on the bank of a small creek or rivulet and has a 

 most disagreeable taste. This spring has long been noted among pros- 

 pectors and Indians for its medicinal properties. Speaking of its taste, 

 Dr. S. Weir Mitchell says: * 



I do not distinctly recall all the nasty tastes wMcli have afflicted my palate, but I 

 am quite sure this was one of the vilest. It was a combination of acid, sulphui-, and 

 saline, like a diabolic julep of lucifer matches, bad eggs, vinegar, and magnesia. I 

 presume its horrible taste has secured it a reputation for being good when it is down. 



MOUNT WASHBURN GROUPS. 



The area bordering the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone, on the 

 west side, extending back to the foot of Mount Washburn and the base 

 of Dunraven Peak, is a heavily-timbered region. This interferes with 

 the determination of the exact localities of the groups of springs which 

 are situated here. In 1872, after almost passing around Mount Wash- 

 burn, we crossed a high saddle some distance east of the main trail, and 

 camped in the timber near the eastern base of the spur extending south 

 from Mount Washburn. Near our camp were some groups of springs, 

 which I described as follows in my report for 1872 f (page 128) : 



Close to our camp there was a small gully containing some springs, of which I re- 

 corded the temperatures. A small stream ran through the gully, and throughout the 

 entire bed there were springs whose presence was revealed by the bubbling of carbonic 

 acid and sulphuretted hydrogen through the water. On either side of the stream 

 there are abundant deposits, of a white color, containing lime, silica, and sulphur, 

 giving evidence that at some past time this place was the seat of a large group of ac- 

 tive springs, of which those now existing are a mere trace. It may not be many 

 years before they will be entirely extinct. The specific description of these springs is 

 as follows : No. 1 is 8 feet by 5, and gave off sulphuretted hydrogen abundantly. The 

 temperature' was only 52° F. No. 2 is 3 by 4 feet, and has a temperature of 53° F. 

 Nos. 4 and 5 were merely small holes in the deposit on the bank of the stream. The 

 temperature of the former was 94° F. and of the latter 115° F. The remaining springs 

 were as follows : No. 6, 188° F.; No. 7, 188° F.; and No. 8, 190° F. The boiling-point 

 here wonld be 198°. 3 F. The temperature of the air during these observations was 

 7(j° F., the lime being about 7.30 a. m. The elevation above sea-level was 8,117 feet. 

 From this group of springs we caught a glimpse of a white spot through the trees, 

 which indicated that there were more springs to the north of these. Toward this 

 place we turned our heads, and while riding along through the woods we came to a 

 pool of water which would measure probably thirty yards by fifty. The surface of 

 the water was almost all in agitation from the number of points of evolution of car- 

 buretted hydrogen. The temperature of the water was only 54° F., while the air still 

 remained at 76° F. This pool was on about the same level as the springs mentioned 

 above. A short ride from this pool brought us to the spot we were seeking, and Ave 

 found ourselves in the midst of an active group of mud springs or salses. The springs 

 are distributed over the side of a hill which steams from top to bottom. It was a most 

 horrible-looking place, and brought to our minds pictures of the infernal regions. The 

 black and red colors of the mud and iron deposits gave the hill the appearance of having 

 been burned, while here and there were masses of bright-yellow sulphur. The air was 

 filled with the fumes of sulphuretted hydrogen. The noise made by the throbbing 

 and pulsating masses of mud was continuous. This, with the splashing and splutter- 

 ing of some of the springs, the plop-plop of the thicker mud, combined with the un- 

 earthly appearance of the scene, made us feel that we were on dangerous ground, and 

 in walking about the springs we did so carefully, fearing that we might break through 

 the crust. The mud in these springs is black in some, lavender-colored in others, and 

 again yellow, while in consistency it is of all grades, from that of a thick nmsh to a 

 mere inky-black water. In the thick-mud spring the steam seems to escape with an 

 effort after several vain attempts. The mud rises in a hemispherical mass, falls and 

 again rises, and after several repetitions the steam bursts from it, sometimes throwing 

 the mud to a distance of 20 feet. 



I divide the springs at this locality into two groups, the second group being some 



*Lippincott's Magazine, July, 1880, page 33. 

 tRep. of U. S. Geogl. Surv. of Terr, for 1872, 1873. 



