BRINE SPRINGS- 
103 
Near Rutledge, in the County of Cattaraugus, there are several springs with a slight 
impregnation of salt. Some attempts have been made to work them, but they have not been 
attended with the least success. 
Although brine springs have not heretofore been noticed in Chautauque County, the fre¬ 
quent occurrence of gas springs would lead us to suppose that brine will yet be found asso¬ 
ciated with them, as it is in various parts of this State and Ohio. 
From this brief account of the localities of the brine springs in this State, it appears that 
they occur with various degrees of frequency in almost all the counties west of a line passing 
through Otsego, and bounded on the north by the southern lines of Lewis and Jefferson. It 
is, however, well known, that favourably as many of these springs are situated, none of them 
are at present employed to any extent in the manufacture of salt, except those found on the 
margin of the Onondaga lake. This fact proves most conclusively the superiority of the last 
mentioned springs, the great importance of which cannot well be over-estimated. 
Chemical composition. In regard to the chemical composition of the waters of these dif¬ 
ferent springs, great uniformity is found to prevail. All those which have been subjected to 
analysis contain, although in somewhat various proportions, the chlorides of calcium and mag¬ 
nesium, and the carbonate and sulphate of lime, in combination with the common salt. All 
of them, moreover, when freshly drawn, give the characteristic test of iron, which exists in 
minute proportions in the form of carbonate ; or perhaps in some cases the oxide of iron may 
perform the part of an acid, which, by combining with lime, may thus exist in the form of 
ferrate of lime. Bromine is also known to be one of the constituents of the Salina brine,'and 
it will probably be found in most of the others ; but iodine has not yet been detected in any 
of them. It may be interesting to observe, that all these ingredients are found in sea-water, 
although the order of combination is somewhat different. In the brine, the proportion of car¬ 
bonic acid and of. iron is usually greater, while that of magnesia is less, than in sea-water; 
and iodine, which has not been detected in the former, is frequently found in the latter. And 
to show, that so far as it regards the chemical nature of these substances, there is no incon¬ 
sistency in the theory that these brine springs result from the solution of beds of rock salt, it 
may also be stated that all the saline matters which they contain are met with in rock salt, 
except that the chloride of magnesium is either entirely wanting in the latter, or exists only 
in very minute proportion. The rock salt of Droitwich and Cheshire contains the chloride of 
calcium, but not of magnesium. These facts, although they appear to be of little importance, 
may hereafter be found to have some bearing upon the views which are entertained concerning 
the origin of our salines. 
Brine Springs of Onondaga County. The fact that the State derives an important part 
of her revenue- from these springs, and that they furnish employment and give support to 
many thousands of her citizens, seems to render it necessary that I should present a detailed 
description of them ; and also that I should offer such suggestions concerning the manufacture 
of salt, as may be thought worthy of attention. 
