THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I9QI2 AI 
are specially valuable for medicinal purposes; Saratoga Springs, 
Ballston Springs, Richfield Springs, Sharon Springs and Lebanon 
Springs are among the more noted localities for such waters. 
Numerous other springs are more particularly adapted for table 
use containing only sufficient mineral matter perhaps to give them 
a pleasant 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 em- 
ployment 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 distributed 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 earth are the most 
abundant in the State. The dissolved bases may exist in association 
with chlorin and carbon dioxid, as in the springs of Saratoga county, 
or they may be associated chiefly with sulphuric 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- 
ing 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 all 
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 sulphuric acid and smaller 
amounts of chlorin, carbon dioxid and sulphureted hydrogen. They 
are employed for medicinal baths as well as for drinking purposes. 
The springs issue along the contact of Siluric limestone and Devonic 
shales. Sharon Springs is situated to the east of Richfield Springs 
and near the contact of the Lower and Upper Siluric. Clifton 
