ANALYSIS OF THE SALT SULPHUR SPRINGS,
Temperature variable from 49° to 56°.
Solid matter procured by evaporation from 100
cubic inches, weighed after being dried at 212°,
81·41 grains.
Quantity of each solid ingredient in 100
cubic inches, estimated as perfectly free from
water.
| 1 |
Sulphate of Lime, |
36·755 grains. |
| 2 |
Sulphate of Magnesia, |
7·883 grains. |
| 3 |
Sulphate of Soda, |
9·682 grains. |
| 4 |
Carbonate of Lime, |
4·445 grains. |
| 5 |
Carbonate of Magnesia, |
1·434 grains. |
| 6 |
Chloride of Magnesium, |
0·116 grains. |
| 7 |
Chloride of Sodium, |
0·683 grains. |
| 8 |
Chloride of Calcium, |
0·025 grains. |
| 9 |
Peroxide of Iron derived from
Proto-Sulphate, |
0·042 grains. |
| 10 |
An azotized organic matter
blended with Sulphur, about |
4 grains. |
| 11 |
Earthy Phosphates, |
a trace. |
| 12 |
Iodine, |
a trace. |
Volume of each of the gases contained in a
free state in 100 cubic inches.
| Sulphuretted Hydrogen, |
1·10 to 1·50 cubic in. |
| Nitrogen, |
2·05 cubic in. |
| Oxygen, |
0·27 cubic in. |
| Carbonic acid, |
5·75 cubic in. |
"I enclose you a list of the ingredients in
the Salt Sulphur water, which applies to the
New as well as the Old Spring, the former
having rather a smaller amount of saline matter
in general, though in some ingredients surpassing
the other. It has been very minutely
analyzed, and is the first of all the waters in
which I was able to detect traces of Iodine,
which it contains in larger amount than the
Old Spring, and indeed most of the other waters
in which I have been so fortunate as to
discover this material."
In connection with the claim of the agency
of Iodine in the New Spring, we give insertion
to the following interesting certificate.
Union, Monroe County, Va.,
15th December, 1845.
During the summer of 1845 I was induced to try the Iodine
Spring, at the Salt Sulphur Springs, in Monroe, for an obstinate
and (as I then supposed) incurable eruption on the skin
of one of my children. The disease first appeared, at the age
of three weeks, in the shape of small red spots upon the cheeks,
succeeded very soon by little watery pimples, which rose and
broke continually, but without healing. In a short time the
affected parts increased in size as well as quantity, until they
extended from the face to the head and neck, and thence over
the entire body—presenting one uniform and consolidated appearance
of disease over the whole surface. The neck, head,
and face discharged matter from the scabs, and the legs from
the knee down. For fourteen months I kept the child constantly
under medical treatment, but without any permanent
benefit, or any prospect of recovery, until, at the instance of
Dr. M.—(who at that time was residing at the Salt,) I was
induced to make a trial of its waters. He represented the
disease as a constitutional affection of the blood which could
not be relieved, and which ought not to be arrested very suddenly,
but assured me, very confidently, that it would yield to
nothing with so much certainty and success as to the external
application of the Iodine water at the Salt. The child
was bathed twice a day in the water made gently tepid, of
which it drank pretty copiously during the ceremony. About
the fourth day there was an evident change for the better, and
the child from that time continued to improve daily, until at
the expiration of six weeks, the sores had healed, the scabs
had disappeared, the pimples and splotches had subsided, and
the skin for the first time for more than fourteen months assumed
a natural and healthy appearance. I have no doubt
by remaining a few weeks longer every vestige of the eruption
would have been removed. But I consider the disease
at this time as effectually conquered, and as having changed
its type completely. Indeed, the only indications ever visible
are an occasional roughness on the skin. As we used no
medicine, except occasionally some mild cathartic, I feel no
hesitation in ascribing all the results that I have stated to the
effects of the Iodine water.
