502 
REMARKS  ON  THE  SARATOGA  SALT. 
chemical  purposes,  it  is  only  necessary  to  omit  the  charcoal  and 
plaster,  and  continue  the  evaporation  of  the  solution  to  a  syrupy 
consistence,  when  the  sulphate  of  lime,  which  it  holds,  will  all 
crystallize  out  on  cooling.  The  clear  liquid  is  then  decanted  into 
bottles  and  preserved  in  that  form,  as  it  is  very  difficult  to  obtain 
or  keep  it  in  crystals  or  dry  powder. 
University  of  Maryland,  Sept.  7th,  1855. 
REMARKS  ON  THE  «  SARATOGA  SALT." 
By  W.  Hodgson,  Jr. 
During  the  last  winter,  the  writer  of  this,  desiring  to  furnish 
to  persons  at  a  distance  from  Saratoga  the  benefits  of  that  cele- 
brated water  in  a  more  portable  form  and  at  a  more  reasonable 
rate  than  the  bottled  water  of  the  Congress  Spring,  contrived  a 
formula  for  such  a  preparation.  This  was  not  done  hastily  or 
slightly,  nor  without  laborious  and  continued  study ;  his  object 
being  to  produce  a  reliable  substitute  for  the  natural  water,  and 
not  a  mere  say-so.  During  the  spring,  he  was  able  to  offer  the 
"  Saratoga  Salt"  to  the  public,  and  to  the  scrutiny  of  scientific 
men  ;  and,  on  the  strength  of  their  approval,  to  announce  it  as 
forming,  on  solution  in  water,  an  accurate  imitation  of  the  natural 
"  Congress"  Spring  water;  only  differing  therefrom  in  contain- 
ing a  small  portion  of  the  ingredients  for  evolving  carbonic  acid 
gas  ;  so  small  as  not  to  be  perceptible  to  the  taste,  nor  to  inter- 
fere in  any  degree  with  its  medicinal  efficacy.  All  the  constitu- 
ents of  the  natural  water — even  the  most  minute,  and  such  as 
have  escaped  the  notice  of  ordinary  analysis— are  included  in  its 
composition  ;  and  the  elements  are  so  arranged,  and  in  such  pro- 
portion, that  their  combination,  when  effected  by  the  affusion  of 
the  proper  quantity  of  water,  cannot  be  distinguished,  in  its  sensi- 
ble or  chemical  properties,  from  the  water  of  the  Congress  Spring, 
and  may  be  safely  considered  as  identical  with  it. 
The  »  Saratoga  Salt"  thus  brought  before  the  public,  being 
found  to  answer  the  expectations  of  those  who  tried  it,  and  the 
demand  becoming  considerable,  the  proprietors  of  the  "Congress 
Spring"  appear  to  have  become  uneasy,  and  have  issued  a  Circu- 
lar to  warn  "  Southerners  and  Drinkers  of  Congress  Water" 
against  the  supposed  inroad  upon  their  prerogative.     The  public, 
