62 BULLETIN OF THE NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



are derived from the same salt deposits that supply Syracuse 

 and which are situated in the Salina Group, they do not 

 differ materially in their chemical composition, the main 

 difference being rather one of concentration. The amount 

 of calcium sulphate present in the brines is dependent, as at 

 Syracuse, upon the quantity of calcium chloride contained 

 in them. There is one remarkable fact to be recorded in 

 this connection, namely, that while the brine from a new 

 well usually contains calcium and magnesium chlorides in 

 very small quantities, an increase of them is noticed after a 

 time, especially when several wells very near to each other 

 become connected under ground. The most plausible ex- 

 planation which can be offered for this is that the shales 

 above the rock-salt — almost all the wells in the western part 

 of the state are sunk in the rock-salt — may be highly charged 

 with these soluble chlorides and that when the salt surround- 

 ing the tubing of the well has been dissolved up to these 

 overlying shales the chlorides of the alkaline earths find 

 easy access to the brine. Mr I. P. Bishop states that he was 

 informed by Mr C. Q. Freeman, vice president of the 

 Retsof Mining Co., that a number of analyses of salt Were 

 made under his direction and that the samples taken from 

 the top of a salt bed contained a greater proportion of del- 

 iquesent chlorides than those taken from the bottom. 

 Whenever two or more wells belonging to the same com- 

 pany are found to be connected under ground the so-called 

 forcing process is resorted to, which consists in pumping 

 fresh water to the salt bed below by powerful pumps. 

 Through one well (tubing) the water is forced down while 

 the brine comes up through another. This may possibly 

 have some influence on the overlying shales. As examples 

 to show the quality of the western brines the following two 

 analyses may serve : 



