Account of the New Mineral Spring at Albany. 1 67 



bonat of soda in the Albany water, it entirely accounts for 

 not finding either of these muriats in it, as they cannot exist 

 together, for I consider the half grain which was taken up by 

 the alkohol owing either to a small quantity of water which 

 the alkohol contained, or else that it was rather the product 

 of close evaporation than as a component and original ingre- 

 dient in the water. 



With respect to the carbonat of iron, which is found, in 

 greater or less quantity, in all those springs, the Albany water 

 appears to contain more than any of them ; while the Con- 

 gress spring is not rated at one grain in the quart, the Albany 

 contains one grain in a pint. I am aware that the analyses 

 of others have stated the iron as much more than I do, but 

 on a reference to the waters of the most celebrated chalybe- 

 ates in Europe, I find that none of them are rated as con- 

 taining half this quantity, though analyzed by chemists of un- 

 doubted skill and science, and I am satisfied that if I have 

 erred on this occasion, it is in rather stating the amount 

 above the real quantity. 



In no one quality is the analogy between these springs 

 more striking than in the quantity of carbonic acid gas which 

 each of them contains ; a reference to the synoptical table 

 will show that they do not differ essentially, and yet I would 

 not have it understood, that the statement of the quantity will 

 be always found precisely accurate, as there is nothing upon 

 which a chemist is more liable to error, so many circum- 

 stances^being required to insure a uniform result ; above all, 

 it is necessary that experiments should be made immediately 

 at the spring. In stating the quantity of carbonic gas, with 

 which all these saline waters are impregnated, it is the gene- 

 rally received opinion, that the whole of it is in a free state, 

 that is, that it is combined with the water, without the inter- 

 vention of any other substance. A little reflection, however, 

 will show that this is not the case. Although experiments 

 with litmus paper certainly show that this gas gives the water 

 acid properties, yet the greater part of this gas which we af- 

 terwards collect, has been combined with carbonats of lime 

 and magnesia, which were held in solution by it, but the 

 union being only slight, the gas being volatile is expelled ei- 

 ther by heat, or exposure to the atmosphere, when the earths 

 are precipitated. It is those earths which repress the ef- 

 fect of the acid in the water, while they are combined with 

 it ; otherwise the water would have the same lively and spark- 



