52 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



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 perhaps to give them a pleasant 

 saline taste. Both kinds of waters are generally carbonated 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 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 oc- 

 curring 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 con- 

 dition. The amount of solid constituents in the different waters 

 varies from less than ioo to over 500 grains a bottle. Large quan- 

 tities 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 



