1875.] 487 [Hunt. 



sis of tlie water, of which I calculated the chief ingredients for 1000 

 parts, for the purpose of comparison. I. is the water of the Boston 

 Artesian Well; II. from a well at St. Catherine, Ontario, bored to a 

 depth of 500 feet and ending in the shales of the Hudson River 

 group ; III. and IV. from wells sunk respectively at Kingston and at 

 Hallowell, Ontario, in the Trenton limestone; these three analyses 

 are by myself, while V. is an analysis by Schweitzer of the sea-water 

 of the British channel. 





I. 



II. 



III. 



IV. 



V. 



Chlorid of Sodium 



8.617 



29.803 



7.227 



38.731 



27.059 



Chlorid of Potassium 



.133 



.355 



undet. 



undet. 



.766 



Chlorid of Calcium 



5.093 



14.854 



2.102 



15.923 





Chlorid of Magnesium 



3.030 



3.397 



1.763 



12.906 



3.666 



Sulphate of Lime 



1.914 



2.192 



2.388 





1.406 



Sulphate of Magnesia 











2.296 



Carbonate of Lime 



undet. 





.400 





.033 



In 1000 parts 



18.787 



50.601 



13.880 



67.560 



35.2 26 



It will be noticed that the waters II. and IV. contain amounts of 

 saline matters much greater than sea-water, from which I have con- 

 cluded that they are from bitterns enclosed in the lower strata of 

 the paleozoic series, and derived from the evaporation of ancient sea- 

 waters. These must have been distinguished from those of modern 

 seas by the predominance of salts of magnesium and calcium. The 

 amount of the latter element in the modern ocean is insufficient to 

 form gypsum with the sulphate present, so that modern bitterns from 

 which the calcium has thus been separated still contain a large pro- 

 portion of sulphate of magnesia. The gradual elimination of the 

 lime from the ocean's waters in the form of carbonate by the action 

 of carbonate of soda derived from decaying crystalline rocks, and the 

 consequent production of chlorid of sodium are important processes 

 in the chemical history of the globe, which I have discussed at length 

 elsewhere. (See my Chemical and Geological Essays, passim.) 



After communicating the above note, I received from Mr. S. B. 

 Sharpies the results of some analyses of waters from different parts 

 of the city of Boston, which have recently been sunk through the 

 superficial clay and gravel to the underlying rock. It had long 

 been known that the waters got from certain deep wells in the city 

 and its vicinity are bitter, salt and unfit for use, and these analyses 

 show that they owe these qualities to an admixture of the same saline 

 elements as abound in the waters of the Artesian Well. I subjoin 



