/ 
SARATOGA. m 
as if boiling. The crater is nine inches in 
diameter. The various properties of the water 
have not been yet ascertained with any great 
accuracy; but it is said to be impregnated 
with a fossile acid and some saline substance ; 
there is also a great portion of fixed air in it. 
An opportunity is here afforded for making 
some curious experiments. 
If animals be put down into the crater, 
they will be immediately suffocated; but if 
not kept there, too long; they recover again 
upon being brought into the open air. 
If a lighted candle be put down, the flame 
will be extinguished in an instant,, and not 
even the smallest spark left in the wick. 
If the water immediately taken from the 
spring be put into a bottle., closely corked, and 
then shaken, either the cork will be forced 
out with an explosion, or the bottle will be 
broken; but if left in an open vessel, it be¬ 
comes vapid in less than half an hour. The 
water is very pungent to the taste, and acts as a 
cathartic on some people, as an emetic on 
others. 
Of the works thrown up at Saratoga by 
the British and American armies during the 
war, there are now scarcely any remains. The 
country round about is well cultivated, and the 
trenches have been mostly levelled by the 
plough. We here crossed the Hudson River, 
