Saratoga and How to See It Part 7

This is _the_ Sulphur Spring of Saratoga. _It is said to be unsurpa.s.sed by any Sulphur spring in the State._ Sulphuretted or hepatic waters acquire their peculiar properties from beds of pyrites or by pa.s.sing through strata of bituminous shale and foetic-oolitic beds. These we regard as organic sulphuretted waters, while the others are mineral.

The mere presence of hydrosulphuric acid gas does not const.i.tute an hepatic water: for the solid ingredients are essential; and these are found in that of the Eureka White Sulphur Spring, proving it to be a very valuable water. It is successfully used in the long list of diseases for which, sulphur water, both internally and externally, is so highly recommended by the medical faculty. Sulphur waters are very useful in the treatment of rheumatism, gout, neuralgia, and kindred diseases, and in glandular affections and certain chronic diseases of the stomach, liver, intestines, spleen, kidneys, bladder and uterus, and in dropsy, scrofula, chlorosis and mercurial diseases. It is beneficial, used both internally and externally in the form of baths at different degrees of temperature, best determined in each case by the physician under whose advice, as a general rule, they should be used. The water is highly beneficial in cutaneous diseases, inflamed eyes, etc. If the person is dyspeptic the non-gaseous water should be used in small doses. It may be as well to add that such waters should not be used if there is a tendency to cerebral disease, or in cases of consumption and cancer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CONGRESS SPRING BOTTLING-HOUSE.]

The water of this sulphur spring is remarkably pellucid. The fountain discharges upwards of 20,000 gallons per day.

A large and commodious bathing-house, containing fifty bath-rooms, with excellent and ample accommodations and superior facilities, affords _warm_ and _cold_ sulphur water baths. They are a real luxury.

This completes our list of the important springs. Mineral water of considerable merit has been found in several other places in the village and its vicinage, which, if situated elsewhere, would doubtless excite marked attention and popularity, but in the midst of Saratoga's brilliant galaxy and in the absence of any distinguishing peculiarity, they possess at present "no name."

DIRECTIONS FOR THE USE OF THE WATERS.[B]

The CATHARTIC waters, as a cathartic, should be taken only before breakfast in the morning, and possibly before retiring at night, because in the morning the body, refreshed by sleep, is best prepared for the water, and the stomach is empty. Two or three gla.s.ses are usually sufficient, if drank within a short interval and only a few minutes before breakfast. Many physicians attribute the cathartic effect to the "stimulus of distention" as well as to the absorption of the mineral properties, and for this purpose the water should not be sipped but _drank_. Before eating, the sipping of a little tea or coffee will make the waters more efficacious.

None of the cathartic waters should be drank in _large quant.i.ties_ immediately before, during or within two hours after meals, as they are then liable to disturb digestion and prevent nutrition.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WASHING AND FILLING.]

When suffering from a cold the cathartic waters should be avoided.

Those affected with lung complaints should not drink these waters.

As an ALTERATIVE, the waters should be drank in small quant.i.ties at various intervals during the day. As their alterative effect is from the absorption of the water, the quant.i.ty taken should be small.

The chalybeate or TONIC waters are liable to cause headache when taken before breakfast. They may be used with benefit before or after dinner and tea. Only from a half to one gla.s.s should be taken at a time.

The DIURETIC waters should be drank before meals, and at night, and should not be followed by warm drinks. Walking and other exercise increase the diuretic effect.

Attention to system should characterize the use of these as of other remedies.

It is impossible to give _complete and invariable_ directions for drinking any of the waters.

The experience and necessities of each individual can alone determine many things in regard to their use.

It is advisable to consult some experienced resident physician.

A moderate use of the waters will be found most beneficial.

The enormous quant.i.ties of water which some persons imbibe at the popular springs is perfectly shocking, and can only be injurious. It is no uncommon occurrence to see persons drink from five to ten gla.s.ses of Congress or Hathorn water with scarcely any interval, and the writer has heard of a lady who swallowed within a few minutes fourteen gla.s.ses of one of the springs. It is to be presumed that her thirst was satisfied, as no further account of her has been given.

Those who are taking a course of mineral water will usually find their appet.i.te increased thereby.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PACKING-ROOM, CONGRESS SPRING.]

An abundance of vegetables should be avoided, and only those which are perfectly fresh should be used.

Frequent bathing in mineral water and otherwise will be found beneficial.

Raising the temperature of the spring water, by placing a bottle of it in boiling water, makes it more efficacious as a cathartic, and is said to remove the iron. Heating the water makes it better for bathing purposes.

FOOTNOTE:

[B] This article is _copy righted_. Parties who wish to copy the entire article, or a portion of it, will please give credit.

The Saratoga Waters at a Distance from the Springs.

If the Saratoga waters are really what they have the reputation of being--and certainly no one who has witnessed their effects can deny their wonderful power--the purity of the water which is supplied to invalids, at a distance from the springs, becomes a matter of the utmost consequence.

"The fashionable and the rich," writes an eminent divine, "who fill these splendid saloons, are not alone the people for whom the beneficent Creator opened these health-giving fountains; but they are also those who occupy the sick chambers in all parts of the earth, who have never seen Saratoga, but who are relieved and comforted by its waters."

Personally the writer has found in several cities more or less difficulty in obtaining the genuine water. He therefore offers a few suggestions on the present mode of exportation.

For many years the sale of spring water has been chiefly conducted by druggists. In the earlier days the business was conducted with fairness and profit to all concerned, but the small cost of manufacturing an artificial water imitating the natural in taste and appearance, and made even more sparkling and pungent by a heavy charging with gas, the enormous extent of the patent medicine business which has protruded itself in all directions, and to an overwhelming extent, and the large percentage of profit which druggists now realize on their goods, all these have interfered with the sale of pure natural spring water. We a.s.sert as an indisputable fact that the sale of artificial waters has been a serious and unjust detriment to the reputation of natural mineral water.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STORE-ROOM, CONGRESS SPRING.]

Very little of the water sold on draught by druggists is genuine.

Several instances have fallen under the immediate notice of the writer, in which druggists have obtained the photographs and trade marks of a certain spring, by the purchase of a small quant.i.ty of water, and then manufactured that which they sold on draught; and instances are numerous in which druggists have overcharged consumers for the bottled water.

We cannot too strongly urge those who wish to obtain Saratoga water pure and fresh, to send _direct to the spring_ whose waters they desire.

To the Superintendents of springs we suggest the supplying of the waters through _grocers_, who can best handle both the barreled and the bottled water, and will be most likely to sell it in its purity.

It should be made a _staple article_, and its merits as a beverage and a preventive of disease brought to public notice. The use of the water increases the appet.i.te, and grocers would find its extended sale would be an advantage to their business.

We believe our country would be better, and biliousness, dyspepsia, fevers, and a long range of diseases more rare, if the natural waters which G.o.d has provided were to become a standard article in our groceries.

Special Notice.--The subscriber is desirous of making a special study of the mineral springs of Saratoga. He will gladly receive any reliable information which may be communicated to him in regard to the history, properties, etc., of the various springs, or their effects in particular cases.

Such information will be acknowledged in future editions of this work.

_Invalids who have received benefit or injury_ from the use of the waters are earnestly requested to give a statement of their experience. Communications of this sort will be held _confidential_.

Proprietors of springs in other places are also requested to send circulars and other information in regard to their several springs.

Address, R.F. DEARBORN, _Saratoga Springs, N.Y._