Account of the New Mineral Spring at Albany. 147 



through the water without giving it any sensible properties. 

 When this water, which is at first so clear and pellucid, is al- 

 lowed to remain, for a few hours, in a glass, the gas which is 

 extricated from it, adheres in the form of innumerable air bub- 

 bles to the inside surface of the glass ; in a short time after, the 

 water loses its transparency, a thin pellicle appears on its 

 surface, which has a slightly irridescent appearance ; by de- 

 grees the water becomes perfectly opaque, the pellicle falls 

 to the bottom, which as well as the sides of the glass is cover- 

 ed with a light brown powder, which adheres firmly to it. 

 The water after this, recovers its former transparency, but 

 loses its agreeable, pungent, and acidulous taste, becoming 

 perfectly vapid, and has no other taste but that of a solution 

 of marine salt in water. 



Examination of the contents of the Albany water by tests or 

 Reagents. 



Experiment 1 . Litmus paper, dipped into the water when 

 fresh from the spring, has its color immediately changed to 

 red ; but this color is fagacious, nor will any such change 

 be produced after the water has been boiled or exposed to 

 the air for any time, which shows that this was produced by 

 a quantity of uncombined carbonic acid and not by a fixed 

 acid. 



Exp. 2. Paper stained with turmeric is not altered in 

 color by this water when fresh from the spring. 



Exp. 3. Lime water produces an immediate turbidness 

 and precipitation when added in certain proportions to this 

 water. I know not a more decisive or accurate test of the 

 presence of carbonic acid than this, but a variety of circum- 

 stances are necessary to be attended to, in order to make a 

 just estimate of it. If equal quantities of lime water and this 

 water are mixed, though at first a slight color is produced, 

 yet the water soon becomes clear again, owing to the excess 

 of carbonic acid which is present in this water, and which 

 redissolves the lime. The usual directions therefore, for ad- 

 ding equal quantities will not succeed, where the water, as in 

 this case, contains an excess of carbonic acid. In order to 

 insure a complete and permanent precipitation of the lime 

 water, one ounce of the mineral water is sufficient to decom- 

 pose three ounces of lime water. By attending to this cir- 

 cumstance, a tolerably correct estimate may be formed of 

 the quantity of carbonic acid in any mineral water. 



