168         ST.  REGIS  SULPHUR  WATER  OF  MASSENA,  N.  Y. 
THE  ST.  REGIS  SULPHUR  WATER  OF  MASSENA,  ST.  LAW^ 
RENCE  CO.,  N.  Y. 
By  Ferdinand  F.  Mayer. 
"  The  springs  are  on  the  verge  of  the  Raquette  River,  a  broad  and 
rapid  stream,  about  a  mile  from  Massena  village,  which  is  situated  on  the 
Grass  River.  These  two  streams,  of  about  equal  volume,  run  almost  par- 
allel for  many  miles,  and  empty  into  the  St.  Lawrence  opposite  Cornwall 
Island.  The  St.  Lawrence  is  only  four  miles  distant  from  the  springs,  in 
a  straight  line,  and  the  nearest  station,  on  the  Great  Northern  Road  from 
Ogdensburg  to  Rouse's  Point,  is  at  Potsdam,  fifteen  miles  distant.  As 
early  as  the  close  of  the  last  century  these  waters  were  discovered  by  sur- 
veyors, and  they  saw  the  oozy  ground  around  them  filled  with  the  hoof- 
prints  of  the  moose  and  deer,  who  visited  there  on  account  of  the  saline 
qualities  of  the  fountains.  The  Indians  had  used  them  as  remedies  for 
ulcerations,  it  is  said,  as  long  as  tradition  can  reach  back  ;  and  as  early 
as  1815,  white  people  occasionally  sought  relief  from  cutaneous  diseases 
by  their  use.  The  first  settler  there  was  Captain  John  Polly,  a  soldier  in 
the  second  war  for  Independence,  and  there  he  was  yet  residing  at  the 
time  of  Portfolio's  visit.  They  had  a  long  and  pleasant  interview,  and 
the  captain  gave  our  friend  a  graphic  history  of  his  adventures.  In  1822, 
when  Polly  was  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  he  purchased  forty  acres  there* 
on  which  are  the  fountains  and  the  present  growing  village  of  Massena 
Springs;  and  there  he  erected  the  first  accommodations  for  visitors.  At 
about  that  time  a  young  girl  greatly  afflicted  with  salt-rheum  came,  and 
was  completely  healed.  A  few  years  later,  the  Canadian  Roman  Catholic 
Bishop,  Alexander  M'Donald,  came  there  with  the  "  black  scrofula," 
which  he  had  contracted  in  Egypt.  His  legs  were  covered  with  black 
ulcers  to  his  knees.  He  remained  a  month  and  was  entirely  cured.  Since 
then,  hundreds  afflicted  with  every  description  of  cutaneous  disease,  chro" 
nic  dyspepsia,  and  diarrhoea,  and  kindred  complaints,  have  there  found 
relief  or  positive  cures.    Such  is  the  general  testimony. 
"  There  are  two  springs,  only  a  few  feet  apart,  one  warm  and  the  other 
cold.  The  latter  is  enclosed  and  surrounded  by  a  spacious  covered  plat- 
form. The  other  is  also  enclosed,  but  is  so  little  used  that  its  surround- 
ings are  about  as  primitive  as  when  the  moose  and  the  deer  resorted 
there ;  of  late  it  has  been  built  over  by  the  embankment  of  a  bridge. 
Professor  Emmons  has  given  the  following  result  of  an  analysis  of  the 
two  springs : 
Warm  Spring.   Cold  Spring. 
Chloride  of  sodium  .... 
6-988 
6205 
Magnesia  ..... 
•644 
•846 
Calcium  ..... 
1-026 
•446 
Sulphate  of  lime  ..... 
2-794 
1-960 
Carbonate  of  lime  .... 
1-630 
1100 
Hydrosulphuret  of  magnesia  and  organic  matter, 
1  870 
13-082 
12-447 
