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Show 197 taken developed on boiling a disagreeable odor of crude hippuric acid. The presence of organic matter in the water cannot be a cause of surprise to any one who saw the great number of dead sheep lying in the stream, 12 miles farther up, where the river gradually sinks to re- appear at Soda Lake. But, strange to say, putrefaction does not set in so long as this water, after its subterranean course of 12 miles, is exposed to the desert air, and is not brought into too close vicinity with the decaying animal- matter.* This speaks well for the scarcity of the bacteri ® and other ferment- producing organisms in the desert air. The water has, after concentration, a slight acid reaction. In one hundred thousand parts of water are contained- Sodium chloride '. 170.8 Sodium sulphate 63.1 Calcium sulphate 21.2 Magnesium sulphate 8.5 Organic matter 4. 19.0 Potassium traces. Lithium traces. Phosphoric acid traces. Silicic acid ' tr2a8c2e. s6. BITTER SPRING FROM MINERAL PARK, ARIZONA. There area number of springs in the vicinity of the little mining settlement of Mineral Park, situated in the Cerbat fange in Northern Arizona, which have a disagreeable, bitter taste, making the water unht for drinking or culinary purposes, and compelling the population of the town to procure potable water from a oafion 4 miles distant. Where the water of these bitter springs passes across rocks, it coats them gradually with a thin film of oxide of iron and manganese. It is neutral to test- papers, and on evaporation much gypsum is deposited. It contains in one hundred thousand parts- Calcium sulphate 118.5 Magnesium sulphate 65.3 Magnesium chloride 5.4 Sodium sulphate - trace. Manganese sulphate trace. Iron Bulphate trace. 189.2 No trace of potassium or lithium was found. Another bitter spring, but not so strongly charged with salts, exists on the trail from Callville to Saint Thomas, Southern Nevada. THE GYPSUM SPRING, NORTHWESTERN ARIZONA. This spring is situated in a big dry wash that leads from the Detrital Valley to the Colorado River, which forms there the boundary- line between Arizona and Nevada. White soft crusts, for some distance from the spring, indicate that the water is charged considerably with mineral constituents. It has a faint odor of sulphureted hydrogen, and a strong saline and disagreeable taste. The geological formation, in which the spring is situated, consists of a red triassic sandstone, and conglomerate with gypsum and salt deposits. ' • ' To one hundred thousand parts of water are contained parts- I. II. Sodium chloride 397.8 12.23 Sodium sulphate 51.6 Magnesium sulphate 172.8 23.73 Calcium sulphate 130.1 7.22 Calcium carbonate 12.0 74.80 Potassium chloride trace. 13.44 Magnesium carbonate trace.. 9.62 764.3 141.4 I have added here under II the composition of a spring from Kerami, in the Lybian Desert, of which a specimen was collected by the traveler G. Rholfs, and analyzed by T. Heseert, ( Ann. de Chim., 1675.) * Thousands of sheep die annually while driven through the desert into Arizona. Their decay is due not to bacteriee of the desert, but to those in their bodies. AP. J J- 13 |