Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
Feb.,  1879.  J 
The  Geysers  of  California. 
99 
•engine.  Some  idea  of  the  strength  of  this  discharge  may  be  had  from  the  fact  that 
a  stout  Alp-stick,  weighing  six  pounds,  was  repeatedly  raised  from  eight  to  twelve 
inches  by  the  violence  of  the  puff  and  thrown  to  one  side,  while  a  handkerchief 
was  carried  fully  ten  feet  by  the  violence  of  the  discharge.  Under  our  feet,  and 
<upon  every  side,  are  numerous  apertures  called  "  blow-holes,"  from  which  the 
steam  issues  with  varying  force.  Most  of  these  blow-holes  are  lined  with  the  most 
perfect  crystals  of  the  purest  sulphur  in  needle-shaped,  oblique,  rhombic  prisms  5 
■steam  issues  from  every  side,  and,  in  the  early  morning,  in  many  places  it  is  scarcely 
possible  to  obtain  secure  footing  upon  the  slippery  rocks,  so  en-veloped  are  we  in 
clouds  of  steam,  while  the  heat  is  intense  and  the  ground  rumbles  beneath  our  feet, 
■reminding  us  of  the  stamp  mills  of  the  quartz  mining  districts.  The  quartz  veins 
here  remain  intact,  the  magnesium  silicate  being  dissolved  and  the  mercuric  sul- 
phide disintegrated,  leaving  the  rock  of  peculiar  honeycombed  appearance,  and  by 
the  side  of  the  boiling  stream  at  our  feet  mingles  another  stream  of  the  coldest 
water.  To  our  right,  as  we  pass  along,  we  find  the  fountain  of  "  eye-water," 
which  is  of  a  slight  astringent  character,  while  further  on  a  basin  of  ink,  so  called, 
is  discovered,  consisting  of  a  finely  disseminated  mixture  of  mercurous  sulphide 
with  the  acidulated  water.  The  water  passing  through  the  canon  is  so  distinctly 
acid  as  to  instantly  remove  the  color  from  the  clothes  where  it  splashes  upon  them  ; 
these  spots  afterwards  easily  develop  into  holes  upon  very  slight  inducement  after 
drying.  Upon  either  side  of  the  canon,  rising  one  after  another,  are  brilliant  crusts 
of  alum  tinged  with  ferrous  and  cupric  salts*,  and  the  rocky  basins  along  the  sides 
of  the  stream  are  full  to  overflowing  with  boiling,  seething,  villainous  chemical  con- 
coctions, their  sides  decked  with  various  crystal  efflorescences.  Sulphur,  here,  is  in 
his  element ;  the  whole  family  is  represented,  of  almost  every  ending  and  color. 
A  few  miles  below,  we  have  the  remains  of  an  extinct  geyser,  now  the  Pluton 
Sulphur  Mines,  while  at  Sulphur  Banks  is  another,  and  a  few  miles  above  still  in 
Pluton  Canon,  there  is  another  small  geyser,  the  steam  from  which,  in  the  cool, 
brisk  air  of  the  early  morning,  can  be  seen  for  miles.  When  they  become  extinct, 
•the  remaining  debris  is  profitably  worked  for  both  sulphur  and  mercury.  The 
cause  of  the  violent  ebullition  is  chemical  action  intensified  by  the  action  of  water. 
The  ground-work  of  the  geyser  patches  is  an  easily  decomposed  serpentine,  holding 
with  it  mercuric,  ferrous  and  cupiic-sulphides.  We  believe  the  heat  is  generated  by 
their  decomposition  and  not  from  any  volcanic  action,  as  seems  the  universal 
belief  of  the  dwellers  in  and  around  the  region.  Crossing  Temperance  Creek, 
which  seems  a  misnomer  to  the  traveler  in  California,  so  almost  universal  is  intem- 
perance, we  come  upon  what  is  perhaps  the  greatest  wonder  of  all.  We  find  here 
a  large  blow-hole,  two  or  three  hundred  yards  from  the  canon,  and  seemingly  not 
connected  with  it,  from  which  the  steam  rushes  forth  with  astonishing  violence.  A 
bucket  of  water  thrown  into  it  is  ejected  with  a  roar,  and  stones,  several  ounces  in 
weight,  are  projected  a  distance  of  several  feet.  At  one  time  a  steam  whistle  was 
sunk  into  this  blow-hole  and  was  heard  night  and  day  for  a  distance  of  many  miles, 
but  it  was  impossible  for  guests  at  the  hotel,  half  a  mile  or  more  distant,  to  sleep, 
so  it  was  voted  a  nuisance  and  finally  removed.  Pages  might  be  spent  in  describing 
the  steam  baths  and  hot  springs  of  the  Pluton  Canon,  but  if  we  have  beea  able  to 
