106 
ECONOMICAL MINERALOGY. 
The specific gravity of brine taken from this well is 1.10499 at 60° F. The amount of 
dry solid matter in 1000 grains of the same brine, is 139.53 grains. The following are the 
results of my analysis : 
Carbonate of lime,. 0.14 
Sulphate of lime, . 5.69 
Chloride of calcium,. 0.83 
Chloride of magnesium,. 0.46 
Chloride of sodium, or common salt,. 132.39 
Oxide of iron, with a minute portion of silica and carbonate of lime,. 0.02 
Carbonic acid, holding in solution carbonate of lime and oxide of iron, 0.07 
Water, with a trace of organic matter and bromine, ... 860.40 
There are 1063 grains of dry chloride of sodium in a wine pint of this brine, and 8506 
grains or 1.21 pounds avoirdupois in a gallon; and it requires forty-six and a quarter gallons 
for a bushel of perfectly dry salt, or about forty-four gallons for a bushel in its ordinary state 
of dryness. 
During the year 1840, two borings were made in the vicinity of the Syracuse pump-house, 
the one of which (at the time of my visit in December) was two hundred and forty-five feet 
in depth, and the other two hundred and sixty-five feet. The brine from both these wells was 
much stronger than is usual in this region. In that from the deepest, the salometer (graduated 
as heretofore stated) stood at 78° to 79° ; whereas in the other, the instrument stood at about 
77° ; showing a difference between these and most of the other brines in this district, of from 
10° to 20° on this scale. Both wells furnish daily, brine for the manufacture of 10,000 bu¬ 
shels of salt. On examining .the brine from these two wells, previously mixed by Mr. Spencer 
(the superintendent), and put into bottles which were carefully sealed, I found the specific 
gravity to be 1.14344. 1000 grains of this brine, when evaporated to complete dryness, left 
182 grains of saline matter, or 18.20 in 100 parts. 
This saline matter, on further analysis, was found to contain 173.50 parts of common salt; 
the residue consisted of the usual impurities (as they are called) of the brine, wherever it has 
hitherto been found in this vicinity, viz. sulphate and carbonate of lime, chlorides of calcium 
and of magnesium, and oxide of iron, the former being in much the largest proportion. The 
following will express, with sufficient minuteness for all practical purposes, the composition 
of this brine, in 1000 parts, viz : 
Common salt,. 173.50 
Various impurities, principally sulphate of lime, 8.50 
Water, .....818.00 
About thirty-five gallons of this brine, therefore, will yield a bushel of perfectly dry salt; 
and about thirty-three and a quarter gallons will furnish a bushel of salt in the ordinary state 
of dryness in which this article is sent to market. The superior strength of this brine will 
