366 
[Assembly 
shales along the Niagara, between the falls and Lewiston. Near Lewis- 
ton a copious spring rises from beneath the stratum of gray sandstone, 
about one hundred feet from the top of the formation. The water of 
this spring was slightly charged with sulphuretted hydrogen, and con- 
tained a notable proportion of sulphate of magnesia. Its situation, how- 
ever, is almost inaccessible, and for that reason will not soon become a 
place of resort. Other similar springs, but less copious, occur in the 
vicinity. " Sulphur springs" are found in many places in the the shale 
and limestone along the northern slope of the mountain ridge. They 
occur wherever iron pyrites is disseminated through the rock. At Lock- 
port, in the limestone above the shale, a spring of this kind, when 
opened, discharged gas sufficient to support a constant flame from a 
small tube. On the Tonnewanda creek, about two miles from the vil- 
lage, on the land of Mr. Vandenburgh, is a spring of this kind, which 
has some celebrity. 
I observed but one chalybeate spring in the county. This is on the 
farm of Capt. Leonard, two miles north of Lewiston. There are seve- 
ral other springs at the same place, and the water of some is said to 
yield salt on evaporation. Two miles east of Lewiston a copious 
spring rises from the shale in the mountain ridge. 
Salt Springs. 
In Niagara county, as in Monroe, we find salt springs along the 
course and in the beds of almost all the streams in the northern part of 
the county. These springs are none of them copious, but we frequently 
find three or four in the distance of half a mile. Several of these springs 
occur along the course of Eighteen-mile creek, between Lockport and 
Lake Ontario. Salt springs, affording small quantities of water, occur 
along Golden Hill creek and Johnson's creek. Salt was formerly made 
from a spring within three miles of Lockport; at the time we examined 
it, it was filled with fresh water. The rainy season commenced before 
the northern part of the county was examined, and the accumulation of 
fresh water on the surface prevented accurate investigations of these 
springs. 
It is the general belief that the water of the springs increases in 
strength as we descend mto the rock, but this may be doubted. At St. 
Catharines, U. C. a boring of five hundred feet was made in the same 
rock, and it was found that the water at three hundred feet was 27°, 
(hygrometer,) and at four hundred and twenty-five feet, 29°; but this 
degree of strength is not constant at the same depth at different times. 
