in the margin oi the large marsh or swamp at the head of Seneca lakcy 
and Mr. Quin has obtained salt from the ^-aler by evaporation. Of 
these and similar indications of salt water, we may confidently say that 
they should encourage no expenditure in digging or boring, as the quan- 
tity of salt obtained will be too small to repay even the lea^t labor or 
expense. 
Carburetted hydrogen. This gas, frequently accompanied by bitumi- 
nous matter, rises in many springs and streams, also in ponds and stag- 
nant waters, as well as in places where water is not present. Surface 
water, indeed, has no connection with the phenomenon, any more than 
to indicate the presence of the gas in its passage upward, by the bub- 
bling produced. The term carburetted hydrogen springs cannot, there- 
fore, be used with the same propriety as sulphuretted hydrogen springs, 
for in the latter case the gas combines with the water, whde in the for- 
mer it does not. The occurrence of this gas is observed over a great 
extent of country, particularly in the black shale from Cayuga lake to 
Lake Erio. It sometimes appears to be connected with fissures or rents, 
whether the cause producing the latter has any influence in the produc- 
tion of the gas, we are unable to say. In one place on the outlet of 
Crooked lake, this gas is emitted in a line extending NW and SE, for 
the distance of several rods. The line of bubbles was traced diagonally 
across the canal, and from thence several rods distant across the outlet, 
and I was informed that at some distance SE, where a digging had been 
made, the gas was perceived issuing in the same line. The gas escapes in 
several other places in the vicinity, though there was no means of ascer- 
taining the direction. The course here noticed is not that of th^ joints 
occurring in this rock, and may probably be connected with a fault or 
dislocation of the strata, as there is a slight depression of the rocks not 
far from this point. 
In Yates county, in the town of Middlesex, one mile and a half from 
Rushvllle, this gas issues in large quantities from the soil; an excavation 
to considerable depth has been made, and a large volume of gas now 
escapes from the water, and also from a small spring near. The quan- 
tity of gas is sufficient to supply a constant flame from the entire sur- 
face of the spring. It was formerly used for warming and lighting a 
house near the spot, but has been for a long time neglected. 
In Ontario county, near Goodwin's tavern in Bristol, there is a co- 
pious emission of this gas, and also on the opposite side of the valley. 
In Cheshire, five miles east of the last pla,ce, there are several localities; 
[Asscm. No. 275. j 43 
