No. 200.J 
61 
Another spring, quite similar in its character to that just described , 
is found on the marsh, a short distance from the Salina well, and about 
a mile from the preceding. 
Composition of the Salina sulphur spring in a pint. 
Carbonate of lime, with minute portions of iron and 
silica, 0.58 grains. 
Sulphate of lime, 11.18 " 
Chlorides of calcium and magnesium, 0 . 96 " 
Chloride of sodium, 173 . 69 " 
186.41 " 
Gaseous matters, sulphuretted hydrogen, with a minute portion of 
carbonic acid. 
These waters, therefore, seem to be weak brines, charged with sul- 
phuretted hydrogen, and it is a fact of some interest in connection with 
the history of the brine springs of this region, that the gas just men- 
tioned is also evolved in considerable quantity by many of the pools 
and small collections of water found in their vicinity. To this may be 
ascribed, with much plausibility, the origin of the sulphate of lime, so 
constantly associated with the common salt in all the Onondaga brines. 
In the town of De Witt, three miles northeast of Syracuse and a 
mile north of the Erie canal, are the Messina sulphur springs. They 
are situated in a ravine, similar to that in which are found the springs 
of Manlius and Chittenango, and they rise through a limestone forma- 
tion, on the surface of which are every where found masses of calcare- 
ous tufa. The temperature is uniformly 50° F. The water has a strong 
sulphureous taste, but is not so highly charged with the gas as that of 
other springs. " When it has been exposed to the air for a few hours, it 
becomes milky, no doubt in consequence of the decomposition of the 
sulphuretted hydrogen and the subsidence of some of the less soluble 
salts. The whitish crust usually found near springs of this class, is ob- 
servable here, and the tufa so abundantly met with undoubtedly owes 
its formation to waters similarly constituted. I need scarcely add, that 
this water is used with good effects in many diseases. 
The following is the composition of the water from the Messina sul- 
phur spring, Onondaga county, in a pint. Specific gravity, 1 .00305. 
