Saratoga and How to See It | Page 2

engraving company to fulfill their
agreement has delayed the issue of the work and prevented the insertion
of several other engravings.
R.F.D.
SARATOGA. June, 1872


PART I.
The Analysis, History and Properties OF THE MINERAL SPRINGS.
* * * * *

THE Mineral Springs of Saratoga.
The region of Mineral Springs in Eastern New York consists of a long,
shallow and crescent-shaped valley, extending northeast from Ballston,
its western horn, to Quaker Springs, its eastern extremity. The entire
valley abounds in mineral fountains of more or less merit, and in the
central portion bubble up the Waters of Healing, which have given to
SARATOGA its world-wide celebrity.
Professor CHANDLER, of the Columbia School of Mines, thus
describes the

Geology of the County.
"Beginning with the uppermost, the rocks of Saratoga county are:
1. The Hudson river and Utica shales and slates.
2. The Trenton limestone.
3. The calciferous sand rock, which is a silicious limestone.
4. The Potsdam sand stone; and
5. The Laurentian formation of gneiss and granite, of unknown
thickness.
"The northern half of the county is occupied by the elevated ranges of
Laurentian rocks; flanking these occur the Potsdam, Calciferous and
Trenton beds, which appear in succession in parallel bands through the
central part of the county. These are covered in the southern half of the
county by the Utica and Hudson river slates and shales.
[Illustration: GEOLOGICAL SECTION AT SARATOGA SPRINGS.]
"The most remarkable feature is, however, the break, or vertical fissure,
which occurs in the Saratoga valley, which you see indicated in the cut.
Notice, especially, the fact that the strata on one side of the fissure have
been elevated above their original position, so that the Potsdam
sandstone on the left meets the edges of the calciferous sand rock, and
even the Trenton limestone on the right. It is in the line of this fissure,
or fault, in the towns of Saratoga and Ballston that the springs occur.
"The Laurentian rocks, consisting of highly crystalline gneiss, granite
and syenite, are almost impervious, while the overlying Potsdam
sandstone is very porous, and capable of holding large quantities of
water. In this rock the mineral springs of Saratoga probably have their
origin. The surface waters of the Laurentian hills, flowing down over
the exposed edges of the Potsdam beds, penetrate the porous
sandstones, become saturated with mineral matter, partly derived,

perhaps, from the limestones above, and are forced to the surface at a
lower level, by hydrostatic pressure. The valley in which the springs all
occur indicates the line of a fault or fracture in the rocky crust, the
strata on the west side of which are hundreds of feet above the
corresponding strata on the east.
"The mineral waters probably underlie the southern half of the entire
county, many hundred feet below the surface; the accident of the fault
determining their appearance as springs in the valley of Saratoga
Springs, where, by virtue of the greater elevation of their distant source,
they reach the surface through crevices in the rocks produced by the
fracture.
"It is probable that water can be obtained anywhere in the southern
portion of the county by tapping the underlying Potsdam sandstone. In
these wells the water usually rises to and above the surface. Down in
the rocky reservoir the water is charged with gases under great pressure.
As the water is forced to the surface, the pressure diminishes, and a
portion of gas escapes with effervescence. The spouting wells deliver,
therefore, enormous volumes of gas with the water, a perfect suds of
water, carbonic acid and carburetted hydrogen.
"The common origin of the springs is shown by the analysis: all contain
the same constituents in essentially the same order of abundance; they
differ in the degree of concentration merely. Those from the deepest
strata are the most concentrated. The constituents to which the taste of
the water and its most immediate medicinal effects are due, are:
Chloride of sodium, bicarbonate of lime, bicarbonate of magnesia,
bicarbonate of soda and free carbonic acid. Other important, though
less speedily active, constituents are: Bicarbonate of iron, bicarbonate
of lithia, iodide of sodium and bromide of sodium."
The solvent power which holds all these solid substances in solution,
and which contributes to their agreeable taste, is the carbonic acid gas
with which the water is so freely charged. This free carbonic acid gas is
probably formed by the decomposition of the carbonates which
compose the rock. The water, impregnated with it, becomes a powerful
solvent, and, passing through different strata, absorbs the various

mineral substances which compose its solid constituents.

General Properties.
Writers upon mineral springs generally divide them into the following
classes: Carbonated or acidulous, saline, chalybeate or iron, alkaline,
sulphur or hepatic, bitter and thermal springs.
The Saratoga waters embrace nearly