Account of the New Mineral Spring at Albany. 151 



was incapable of supporting flame, and was quickly ab- 

 sorbed by lime water, consequently it was ascertained to 

 be carbonic acid gas. This may appear to be a small quan- 

 tity, but it is nearly as much as any water can contain, of 

 uncombined carbonic acid, under the common pressure of 

 the atmosphere, and at the common temperature. — Few, 

 if any of the natural mineral waters in Europe contain so 

 much; the waters of Pyrmont, Seltzer and Spa, according 

 to Dr. Saunders, contains little more. And if they are more 

 acidulous and pungent, it is because they contain fewer 

 foreign ingredients. It is this gas which suspends the iron 

 and the earths in this water as well as in those of Ballston 

 and Saratoga, which contain a much greater quantity of 

 these carbonates, and are also sensibly more impregnated 

 with carbonic acid : as we shall see by referring to the anal- 

 ysis. Thus according to experiment, the Congress spring 

 contains about thirty-three cubic inches of carbonic acid in 

 one pint or twenty-seven and a half cubic inches of water. 

 The Ballston spring, thirty cubic inches, while the Albany 

 water contains only twenty-six cubic inches in the same 

 quarftity. 



Examination of the JVater after it had been boiled for half 



an hour. 



Having made the above experiments, with the water fresh 

 taken from the spring, and having determined the quantity 

 of carbonic acid gas, with which it is impregnated, I now 

 proceeded in order to obtain more complete indications, to 

 follow up and repeat some of those experiments, after the 

 water had been previously boiled, and thereby deprived of 

 its gas, and of those substances which were held in solution 

 by it. 



I therefore boiled one pint of this water, for half an hour, 

 and having filtered it, made the following experiments. 



Experiment 1. Nitrat of silver produced the same dense , 

 white precipitate as before. 



Exp. 2. Acetat of lead was affected in the same manner. 



Exp. 3. Litmus paper was not changed in its color. 



Exp. 4. Paper strained with turmeric, had its color imme- 

 diately changed to a dark brown. 



Exp. 5. Muriat of barytes does not alter the transpa- 

 rency of the water. 



