96 
GEOLOGY OF THE FIRST DISTRICT. 
the village, fresh-water springs break out; the water is collected in a reservoir, and, by 
means of a forcing pump, distributed through the village. 
The Rock spring is near the limestone rock on the west side of the marsh; and the tufa, 
in which it is encased, rests on the clay, it is supposed, or is but slightly cemented to it. The 
case in which this spring is contained, and which is represented on Plate 35, is of a conical 
form, hollow, with an opening in the top ten inches in diameter. The cone is of nearly uni¬ 
form thickness ; a mere shell a few inches thick, formed of tufa deposited from its own waters 
as it overflowed from the top, gradually narrowing as it became more elevated, until the pres¬ 
sure of the column of water within caused it to And a partial outlet at some other point. The 
water, since it has been known by the white people of our country, has never reached the top 
of the cone, but remains at about the same level, two feet below the top of the cone, and also 
about two feet above the level of the ground around. The water within is in a state of con¬ 
stant ebullition, by the escape of carbonic acid rising in bubbles ; and this gas, in consequence 
of its specific gravity, fills the capacious cavity from the water to the opening above, out of 
which it flows down the sides of the cone. Experiments may here be performed to show the 
effects of this gas on animal life, and in extinguishing burning combustibles. The tufa of 
which the cone is composed shows it to have been formed in the way mentioned, as it is com¬ 
posed of parallel layers more or less waved and undulated, containing the impressions of leaves, 
small sticks and twigs. 
The following are the dimensions, as given by Dr. Steel: 
FEET. INCHES. 
Perpendicular height,. 4 00 
Circumference of the base,. 26 8 
Length over the rock from north to south,. 11 7 
Length over the rock from east to west,. 10 9 
Top of the rock to the surface of the water,. 2 4 
Depth of water in the cavity of the rock,. 7 8 
Diameter of the hole in the top of the rock,. 0 10 
An opinion formerly prevailed, that the rock had been fractured by the fall of a tree, as the 
cause of the depression of the water below the top, but without any apparent foundation. In 
1767, the spring was visited by Sir William Johnson, then Indian Agent, residing at Johns¬ 
town. The water was then several inches below the top of the rock. Loran Tarbel, an 
aged chief of the St. Regis tribe of Indians, told Chancellor Walworth, that he visited the 
spring when a boy, and was told by the Indians that it once overflowed; but that owing to 
some of their women bathing in it (sv dxada.p'fla ovtbs), the water sunk into the rock, and never 
after showed itself above it. 
The wonderful stories related by the early settlers and hunters, of the effects of the waters 
of this spring in the cure of diseases, are still remembered and related by their descendants; 
and these, with the singular form and nature of the rock, continue to give them a higher 
degree of importance, perhaps, than the facts will warrant. 
