Saratoga and How to See It Part 1

Saratoga and How to See It.

by R. F. Dearborn.

INTRODUCTION.

The design of this work is not to give a history of the village of Saratoga. That, as well as a more elaborate description of the geology of the county, may be found in a very interesting book, published several years since, by R.L. ALLEN, M.D., ent.i.tled the "Hand Book of Saratoga and Stranger's Guide." We acknowledge our indebtedness to the work for several items in regard to the history of the Springs.

Our thanks are due also to Prof. C.H. CHANDLER, Ph.D., of the Columbia School of Mines, for the a.n.a.lyses of the Springs, and for electroplates and valuable suggestions from the _American Chemist_, of which he is the distinguished editor.

We would acknowledge here also, the a.s.sistance and uniform courtesy which we have received from the Superintendents and officers of the various Springs. The failure of an 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 a.n.a.lysis, 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 b.a.l.l.ston, 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 b.a.l.l.ston 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 quant.i.ties 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 a.n.a.lysis: all contain the same const.i.tuents 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 const.i.tuents 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, const.i.tuents 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, pa.s.sing through different strata, absorbs the various mineral substances which compose its solid const.i.tuents.

General Properties.

Writers upon mineral springs generally divide them into the following cla.s.ses: Carbonated or acidulous, saline, chalybeate or iron, alkaline, sulphur or hepatic, bitter and thermal springs.

The Saratoga waters embrace nearly all of these except the last two; some of the springs being saline, some chalybeate, some sulphur, and nearly all carbonated; and in the list may be found cathartic, alterative, diuretic and tonic waters of varied shade and differing strength. The cathartic waters are the most numerous and the most extensively used. The curative agents prepared in the vast and mysterious laboratories of Nature are very complex in const.i.tution and different in temperature, and on that account do not, like iron, opium, quinia, etc., exhibit single effects; they exercise rather, with rare exceptions, combined effects, and these are again modified by various modes of employment and the time and circ.u.mstances of their use.

The Discovery of the Springs.

All the older springs have been found in beds of blue marl, or clay rather, which cover the valley more or less throughout its whole extent. On digging into this clay to any considerable depth, we are pretty certain to find traces of mineral water. In some places, at the depth of six or eight feet, it has been discovered issuing from a fissure or seam in the underlying limestone, while at other places it seems to proceed from a thin stratum of quicksand which is found to alternate with the marl at distances of from ten to forty feet, below which bowlders of considerable size are found.

The spouting springs have been found by experimental boring. As this is the cheapest and more certain method, it is "the popular thing" at present, and the day may not be far distant when all Saratoga will be punched through with artesian wells reaching hundreds of feet, if not through to China, and thus an open market made for the Saratoga waters among "the Heathen Chinee."

Mr. Jessie b.u.t.ton, to whom we are indebted for both the Glacier and the Geyser springs, seems best to understand the process of successfully boring artesian wells, having made these his special study and profession. Like Moses of old, he strikes, or taps, the rock and behold streams of water gush forth.

Are the Springs Natural?

Is a question that will probably seem absurd to those who are at all familiar with mineral springs or Saratoga waters. Nevertheless, it is a not unfrequent and amusing occurrence to hear remarks from strangers and greenies who have a preconceived notion that the springs are doctored, and that a mixture of salts, etc., is tipped in every night or early in the morning! Strange that the art should be limited to the village of Saratoga! The _incredulity_ of some people is the most ridiculous credulity known. Such wonders as the spouting springs, the "strongest" in Saratoga, come from so small an orifice in the ground, as to preclude the least possibility of adulteration. Besides, the manufactured article would be too costly to allow such immense quant.i.ties to flow away unused.

But to argue this question would be a _reductio ad absurdum_. _Nature is far better than the laboratory._ Artificial waters may simulate the natural in taste and appearance, but fall far short of their therapeutic effects.