THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY IQIO 4I 



ton Springs, Richfield Springs, Sharon Springs and Lebanon 

 Springs are among the more noted locaHties for such waters. Nu- 

 merous other springs are more particularly adapted for table use 

 containing only sufficient mineral matter perhaps to give them a 

 pleasantly saline taste. Both kinds of waters are generally car- 

 bonated and sold in small bottles. 



Of late there has developed an important business in the sale of 

 spring waters which can hardly be classed as mineral in the common 

 acceptance of the word, but which are extensively consumed for 

 office and family use in the larger towns and cities. Their employ- 

 ment depends upon their freedom from harmful impurities, in which 

 feature they are generally superior to the local supplies. In so far 

 as such waters are an article of commerce they may well be included 

 in a canvass of the mineral water industry. They are usually dis- 

 tributed in large bottles or carboys in noncarbonated condition. 



Character of mineral waters. Among the spring waters that 

 contain mineral ingredients in appreciable quantity those character- 

 ized by the presence of alkalis and alkaline earths are the most 

 abundant in the State. The dissolved bases may exist in associa- 

 tion with chlorin and carbon dioxid, as in the springs of Saratoga 

 county, or they may be associated chiefly with sulfuric acid, as 

 illustrated by the Sharon and Clifton springs. 



The mineral waters of Saratoga Springs and Ballston are found 

 along fractured zones in Lower Siluric strata, the reservoirs occur- 

 ring usually in the Trenton limestone. They are accompanied by 

 free carbon dioxid, which together with chlorin, sodium, potassium, 

 calcium and magnesium, also exists in dissolved condition. The 

 amount of solid constituents in the different waters varies from less 

 than 100 to over 500 grains per gallon. Large quantities of table 

 and medicinal waters are bottled at the springs for shipment to ill 

 parts of the country. The carbon dioxid which issues from the 

 wells at Saratoga is likewise an important article of commerce. 



The waters at Richfield Springs contain the elements of the alkali 

 and alkaline earth groups together with sulfuric acid and smaller 

 amounts of chlorin, carbon dioxid and sulfureted hydrogen. They 

 are employed for medicinal baths as well as for drinking purposes. 

 The springs issue along the contact of Siluric limestone and De- 

 vonic shales. Sharon Springs is situated to the cast of Richfield 

 Springs and near the contact of the Lower and Upper Siluric. 

 Clifton Springs, Ontario county, and Masscna Springs. St Law- 

 rence county, are among the localities where sulfureted waters occur 

 and are utilized. 



