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If has like wife formerly been believed^ that, , befides the common 



faltnefs, the water of the ocean contained particles, which commu- 

 nicated to it a kind of bitternefs, that made it next to impoliible to 

 diilir drinkable water from fea-w^ater. The ingenious Dr. Lind, 

 of Hailar-hofpital, near Portfmouth, has long ago fliewn how lit- 

 tie foundation there is in this prejudice, and has likewii^ taught 

 the Brit ifh nation, without any public, reward or encouragement,.. 



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an eafy and approved method for obtaining, by diilillation, potabld 

 water from fea- water * . When we made ufe of Dr. Irving's di- 

 billing machine, we. likewife found, that the water thus diflilled 

 was not only entirely freed from its fait, but, befides this, we never: 



could difcdver the leafl bitter particle in the drinkable water. But 

 it muft not by any means be concluded from hence, that there are no 

 fuch bitter particles contained in the fea-wa.ter ; for everyone knows 

 too well, that, after the freih water has been'' evaporated from f^a- 



r 



4 



water, and fait has been thereby formed, there remains always a 



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thick, gelatinous lie, which cannot be cryftallized, and which is 



H ¥- 



nothing but. a mixture, containing marine acid and magnef.a alba ', 

 and, befides thefe ingredients, the fea-brine alw^ays contains fome 

 Glauber's fait and fome felenitic particles ; ib that it feems as if the 

 whole were a mixture of frefh water, marine acid, vitriolic acid, 

 fixed mirreral alkali, magnefia, and lime, Plow^ever, though fe- 



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veral 



•* LInd*s ElTay on Difeafes incidental to Europeans in hot climates. Appendix, p- 351 



