58 BULLETIN OF THE NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



manufacture of which has of late been abandoned. The 

 process consisted in washing the common fine salt described 

 above in a machine with a pure salt pickle holding in solu- 

 tion the necessary amount of sodium carbonate for the de- 

 composition of the small percentages of calcium and mag- 

 nesium chlorides, yielding salt and calcium and magnesium 

 carbonates in a very fine state of subdivision, which readily 

 floated off with the brine or pickle together with some of 

 the calcium sulphate adhering to the salt. After proper 

 drainage the salt was dried in large iron dryers lined with 

 wood (the so-called " Hersey Dryer"), ground and sifted. 

 The peculiar tendency of Onondaga boiled salt, when dis- 

 solved in water, to impart to the latter a milky appearance, 

 is due to the presence of calcium sulphate in the anhydrous 

 state, known as plaster of Paris. If the solution be allowed 

 to stand for some time this plaster will take up its water of 

 crystallization and redissolve. 



There are at present about 40 separate wells in 5 groups 

 on the reservation. The brine comes within 18 to 22 feet 

 of the surface. They are all tubed with 6 or 8 inch tubes 

 and the brine is drawn from them by plunger pumps. The 

 brine obtained from them is very similar in chemical com- 

 position, as the following examples prove. 



Gere Hoffman S. Smith Dewolf McCrain Backer 

 well well well well well well 



Depth 256 ft. 309 ft. 285 ft. 386 ft. 344 ft. 235 ft. 



Calcium sulphate 0.57 0.5860 0.8307 0.5150 0.55 0.5446 



Calcium chloride 0.09 0.0907 0.1851 0.1950 0.12 0.0926 



Magnesium chloride... 0.15 0.1413 0.1717 0.1380 0.17 0.1609 



Salt 15-85 17.4840 17.1222 18.2000 17.97 14.9009 



Total saline matter 16.66 18.3020 18.0097 19.0480 18.81 18.6990 



Water 83.34 81.5407 81.9903 80.9520 81.19 84.3010 



The Grainer Process 

 The grainer or Michigan process is, like the "kettle 

 method," a purely American invention and consists in 

 passing live or exhaust steam through a set of iron pipes 



