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[Voi.i.] v . .. . Verm ThreeDolUra per annum, p^ aide In advance....Nn papc? to be diacontinucd, but at : theontion of the Editor,until all arrearage* are pfcM. ,f Jv^nlttmtnn not exceeding ? fourteen llnea, Inaertcd, tl?e firat time fur aevcnty-Ave centa, an<lforty centa f<* each aubacquent Insertion. Jsltert to the Editor muat bep^>aM,or thepoatage will becluu'ged to tlie writer. SCIENTIFIC. "V* *4* OOMMVXICATID. letter from Dr.K. Smith % Prnfensor of Chum in tru im the tiuuth-Ctu ollna College, to Chan? eetlor lh<*aussttre. ))k a it Hir,?lii compliancftavith your request I reviewed, in October ltntf; tho chemical expe riments made, in (ho preceding August, by G4n. Davie and yourself, upon the water of the Warm Springs, o"ii the French Broad river, in Bun combe county, N.C. in order to ascertain their nature and composition. The bottle of water, which was brought byyou from thojra Springs, was Mho submitted to sundry exptVJirtonts uy Dr. Davis and myself,in the College I^ahoratory. The resulting observations and inferences, toge ther with tome incidental remarks I have now the pleasure of communicating to you. After our procosses were completed, it was found, upon examination, that whefo your ex periments and ours were similar, the indications were not always the same. I pi-occd to notice first, their agreement, and then their difference.! From both seta of experiments it appears that Prussiate of Pot-ash, and Tincture of Galls did not discover the. presence of any Iron?that Mu riate of Barytea occasioned a milky cloud, there by indicating the presence of 8ulphuric Acid ; tfiat Sulphuric Acid produced no effervescence, shewing that there was no Carbonic Acid, pre tent, either uncombined or united with" Alkalis or Barths?that a solution of Soap in Alcohol Sroducert a blue milky appearance, indicating le water to be hard. 2d. Ill our experiments Limewatcr produced no chftrige of color?but in yours there was a small white precipitate, after the mixture han stood for 24 hours, thereby in ? dicating the presence of Carbonic Acid?but as this precipitation did not take place until after euch a length of time, it in most probable that the Carbonic Acid, was derived from the atmos phere, ns it is well known that Limewater will attract it from this source. Oxalic Acid, in our experiments, produced no effect ; but in yours ? considerable white \ rccipitate, indicating the presence of Lime?and ns this result was the same, aftrw boiling the water, the Lime cannot be combined with Carbonic Acid. Acetate of Lead, in our experiments produced a brownish, black color, which soon formed a deposit, and indicated the presence of Sulpliurulcd Hydro gen. In your experiments it produced a whitish milky appearance, from whence it may be infer red that Sulphuric Acid wrh present; for nltho' I this test likewise shews Carbonic Acid, vet as the result was the same after boiling the water, the Acid could not be the Carbonic, as this Acid is atway? expelled by boiling. Ammonia or the volatile Alkali, in our experiments, produced no effect, hut in yours it occasioned a pure, white and tasteless precipitate, which indicates Magntsia; but the Carbonate of Ammonia, which we did not try, produced the same precipitation, and this test does not separate Magnesia from its combinations. . From experiments, made by you alone, it ap pears that the Sulphate of iron indicated tho presence of Oxygen Gas?and that the addition of Nitric Acid occasioned a bluish, white prccl n' stion, but this might have been Lime separa from its rombination with Sulphuric Acid, by the addition of a greater quantity of the Nitric.! The result* of curtain additional experiments, | made by us, were oh follows : Tlio usual tests for Acids and Alkalis produced no effect?and therefore ttierc could Im no uncombined Acid or Alkali. Muriate of Lime had no effect, manifesting that there were no Alkaline Carbonates present. Pure Silver was instantly blackened by immer sion in the water, shewing Sulphuretted Hydro ?gen. The samo .inference resulted from the Ni trate of Silver, which occasioned a brownish black color. Nitrous Acid (fuming) diminished ed the disagreeable smell of the water, & thereby also evinced the presence of Sulphuretted Hy drogen. <?; ? With regard to the sensible qualities tho wa ter appeared to us to have aftiayHefAly disagree able smell, but nothing pccifliaKtyl lis taste. By your thermometer it* teuajHifcturc appears to be *104 of Fahrenheit. desirous to make an analysis of this watcKW evaporation, that wo might ascertain more>4cc/hrately its fix ed ingredients and with this we evapora ted sixteen ounces of the watcftatftl obtained n dark, white rusiduum of four gtaios, hut we ?found this quantity ton small to afford uh any satisfactory imforination. Upon the preceding statement I would now remark that an accurate chemical analvsis of mineral waters con he made only at tho springs, for reasons well known to Chemists \ and con sequently that our analysis must be imperfect. FrOin both set* of rxpeVimcnts, however, lam induced to conclude that this mjneral water is impregnated with sulphuretted ifydrogen Gas, and Sulphate of Lime : and that these foreign ingredients, together with its increased tempe-i rature, make it salutary or certain diseases.? ' Your journal states 44 that you found many per- [ sons relieved from bilious affections and severe bilious colics by the use of the waters in drink ing and bathing"? f ti confirmation of this I may observe, that Saunders,ill his Treatise on Mine ral Waters, observes that the celebrated Har rogate waters in England, which are strongly impregnated witliSulphuretted Hydrogen,44 arc used in a number of disorders of the Alimentary Canal, from the afomaeh to the intestines and in tlie derangements of tfo bilious accretion*, which so often prtdude these complairfts?and that for the eure oft'pymber of cutaneous disorder*, thp stalnhureoAMrateVsof llrfrrogato have acquired a hign celetKjr," He also observes that the cold sulphureoapi waters are not 10 efficacious as the therefore the Harrogate water, *?uch is cold, is not so useful as the hot sulphu reous waters of Aix-la-Chapelloi with respect to tnese last ho states their tertiperaturo to be fn?m <1 into. 132 degrees, and observes ?? these ther nial waters ate much resorted to on the conti nent, for a. variety of complaints. They are found essentially serviceable in the numerous symptoms of disorders in the stomach and biliary organs, that follow a life ofliijA indulgence in the luxu ries of tlio table"?-The chemical analysis of these waters shews that they contain a large quantity of sulphuretted Ily/lrogcn, and smoil portions ol carbonated Lime, common salt and carbonated Soda. From their analogy to these celebrated waters we may infer that the ptitieral springs on French JSroad river may prove bene ficial to many canes of disease and'deserve to be more frequented than thoy arc. It may Hot be uninteresting to make some enquiry into the cause of tho increased tempera ture of certain mineral waters?There is iio visi ble modo of accounting for it; but there must certainly bo some mysterious-process of combus tion, in the bowels of the fcarlli in tho vicinity of these snringH, by which an uniform and un ceasing elevation of temperature is maintained. It is doubtful whether this cause is alwavs the same, because wo find hot springs of a very dis* similar nature/-and it is well known that the* ?r? V,ot .commo^i. I)r. Saunders asserti that the Bath-not springs ore the only natural waters in the kingdom of Great Britain, that are at all hot to the touch, and their greatest tempo rature is 116 decrees of Fnhrenhait. The cele brated klaproth affirms that the greatest heat o* the mineral springs at Carlsbacfin Bohemia, ii 165 degrees ; and it may not be unacceptable to <juote Ins reasonings respecting the cause of this increased heat. " T'?"u,g0 w,,ioh produces tho heat in the sonngs at Carlsbad is variouslystated by Philoso phers. I he opftiion ?fftgreat fire, supposed to exist in tho contre of the Globe, tW which, for merly, all the great plienoniena in the subter raneous laboratory of Nature, and hence also the generation of hot mineral springs, have been asc rilmd, has at present ncarcclv any supporter t others would account for that cause* by the Vol cano*, which are said to have once existed in that countryand though burned nut on the sur face. arc mfljet perfectly extinguished beneath. Rut this, likewise, is an ill founded hypothesis ; as neither a true Crater, nor wlmt might have once been the fire gulph of a Volcano, nor any undoubted1 lava* and other matters, ejected from it, can be found there. "Those Naturalists seem to come nearer to trinfy, who trace the efficient cuihch of heat in these springs from ignited Sulphur Pyrites ; and indeed it cannot be denied that Pyrites act their part in this case. For the stratum of Pvritcs, which is only a few miles distant from Carlsbad, and from which the Sulphur and Vitriol works at Altsaltel are plentifully provided with that crude material ; besides, 'the siliceous ingredi ent disseminated in the stony mixture of that stratum, under which, according to all iudicati ons, that subterraneous laboratory lies where Nature prepares the mineral water i and lastly, thoso constituent parts of these mineral springs, The origin of which wo cannot explain from 'ci ther substances besides from 8ulphur-PyriteH : all these circumstances coincide to give weight to that opinion. " Yet, on a maturer consideration, it will soon Im evident, that theiftssolved pyrites could not alone afford that quantity of Caforic, which has heated tho spring* at Carlsbad, for several centuries past, to this day, with unabated force i hut on the contrary, that, to the production ami preservation of natural hot springs in general, another combustible matter is required from which the subterraneous fire receives it* food. And thus it will bo obvious that this fuel can be nothing else but mineral coal, that remainder of vegetable fragments of the ancient world, lock ed up in the bosom of tlg^rOi, which provident nature has wisely rescryeilT' " When a subterraneous store of mineral coal, such as occur in various places in strata, of an enormous thickness, has been once set on firo by ignited Pyrites or other causes (as may easily happen especially where the stratum comes out near to the day) the inflammation will then spread throughout the whole romaining mass, with a quicker or slower progress-?a spontane ous extinction and complete refrigeration can certainly not be very soon expcctediu that rase : for the larger the bulk of a burning body is, the longer will the heat excited by it, continue, if, besides, it is considered, that this immense mass maynossiblv be enclosed by walls of rocks, iin penetrable, ticlitlle capable of conducting heat, at the same time that the air finds access *o it in but a very small degree j it is then easy to con ccivc that ages must pass before the Caloric, dis engaged from such an immense mass, can In fixed again anil brought to a state of equilibrium with the whole." Ff this reasoning be well founded, it is not im probable that future researches may discover, in the neiuhborhood of the French Broad river, large beils of Sulphur-Pyrites and mineral coal, from which subterranean treasures large quantities of Sulphur, ( opperas, &c. may be obtained. In deed we must admit the existence of Sulphur heds in the vicinity of the warm springs, in or der to account for the presence of Sulphuretted Hydrogen and Sulphuric Acid is those waters. I he heat of the subterranean firo would cause a portion of the Sulphur to combine with Oxygen and constitute Sulphuric Acid, whicli passing through the beds of Limestone, abundant in that country, would dissolve, and unite with, a portion ol' the Lime, und thus form Sulphate of jiimo or Selenite, >vliile another portion of Sul phur, uniting with Hydrogen, Would consti tute Sulphuretted Hydrogen, and thin would be absorbed by the water and hajaart to it that pe culiar odour, which l? ho scntfbiy percoived. . If my imperfect observations should induce fonip5 experienced Chemist and Mineralogist, Hflio has tljo leisure and convenience, to visit this natural curiosity and make a complete analysis of jm v afvr an well as an accurate investigation of fie surrounding country, I shnl) think that I have rendered a service to the cause of science. \VitU much respect I am Your'* truly, L ? .. r EDWARD D. tSMlTII. | July 17, 181(1. V1 1 I?'I JIM 1 ! LJ AGRICULTURAL. ORCHARDS. Tliero is scarcely any part of a farm that is teemed so valuable as tlie Orchard. Yet, pe?> |m it is that %vhich is the most neglected. If u count the number of apple trees on a farm, even in a whole township, probably not one *ftin ten, will be found to pay, by its fruit, for the ((round it occupies $ either because it benri little fruit, or what it bears is bad, or ripens out of season, or is dropped in the-.posture, where the cows arc greatly injured in their milk, by eating the wind-fulls. A single tree has been known to produce in .one year, apples enough for six or seven barrels of eider} wlnle there ore many scores of dwarfish trees in bad condition, slowlv decaying, with deep mortal wounds, and on a oarren soil, that afford less fruit in twenty yearB. It would be a great public benefit if your pa per should rouse the attention of farmers to a (?ettcr system of treatment of their apple trees. The want of rules and directions is not half so much to be lamented as the general want of care. Indeed so littlo foresight and judgment appear in many instances of planting orchards, one would suppose tlic risk was comtidcred as falling on the trees, not on the owner, lie seems to say, grow or die, and yet he matr.ges the mat ter so unaccountably that they can do neither for the first eight or ten years. Young trees tre chosen from a nursery, rank and tender as weeds with the forcing power of hoeing and manure, They Ire twisted and torn out of the ground, and the mangled roots are crowed into a small hole of the depth and di mensions of a peek measure. The tree, pent up aa it were in an iron pot, either dies in the sum mer* or the efforts nature makes to break out bv the roots from the hard little circle in which they are confined, are made in vain. These ef forts are renewed, and again in vain, the next itoimer* Thus the treo is dwarfed, overy scratch oh the bark cankcra and spreads a rot to the heart, and in seven years it has scarcely made nny advances. The life of sucli a tree must be short* jrickly, and barren. it ift recommended to prepare (lie ground for an orchard with diligence before* the trees ore ptmitcd. Dig holes as large as the small wheel of a waggon* at least a year Itefore you net the trees. Throw the top of the earth into a heap by itselft with a spado and Hmall iron bar loosen the soil eighteen inches deep, and throw out this under b?*d of earth into another heap. The ground thus exposed t>o wide and deep to the huii, rain, and frost, and the wider and deeper the better, will mellow and sweeten. In the spring, say in April, choose young naturul or (ingrafted trees from a nursery, that are free front wounds on the bark. Carefully take them up with their whole spread of root4. Half the trees usually get their death wound in taking up. In planting them out, first prune awav broken and diseased roots, and such as cross each other, and then draw round them in the bole the top of the ground that was laid in the pile the year be fore ) it will be mellow and rotten. After this throw in the other heap. So large and wide a hole wil* afford a space for tho roots to Hprcad as goon as tilled land.? Before the weather becomes very dry, u fork full of old hay should be flung on the dug circle in which the tree stands : this will prevent the tree perishing in July and August with drought. Carefully remove tho hay in November that the field mice may not find a harbor to gnaw and spoil tho tree in the winter. The hay should be replaced or more brought the second summer, I after which the tree having filled up with it* ( roots the wide circle in which it was planted, will begin to break out of it into the harder earth. Now if your tree if healthy and flourishing, you may graft it. and this operation will aug ment the vigor of its growth. Care must be ta ken to form the head of the tree j by removing the twigs that it is foreseen will interfere, a spreading shape may be given to the top, and tlic tree will have little future occasion for pru ning. Hut a? this early care may not happen to bo bestowed, or may not be skilfully applied* al most e\ery spring will call for a soaring use of the pruning knife. Pruning should be done in the Hpring after the winter has really disappear ed, mid the weather become soft; Hut it should by no means be delayed till the mouth of May t for after the flow of tfiesap is great, the bark at the lips of the wound is ant to peal or gape o pen \ and as far as the bark penis the wound will spread. Vou should prune off the limits close to tlio place of their insertion into a larger limb, leaving no stump. If after this, the burk should be raised up by tho air half an inch from tho place where you cut, a very deep almost fatal wound will be left. Thorn Is .eason to believe that the bark will often Adhere closely to the wood when you prune, hut some days afterwards the air orthfi flow cf thr sup will (ausc the bark to rise, (in these accounts it seem* prudent to prune father* ,! early in April, ho that the wound may dry and > harden before tlie bark inclines to peel or ftejta rate from tlie wood. If wounds arc made at this Reason very smooth ly. and the limb* cut off aro small, nature will< soon cause tlie new bark tb spread over the - wouuded place. No harm is likely to engue un less the naked wood rots before tlio bark* spread a over it. If the limb cut off be l?rge, this rot ,will take place \ and rely upon it every great wound is a great disease. It is better to cut off two three or .ten small limbs, than one very largo one. When this cannot be avoided, make the cuts sloping ho that the water may run oil' easily. Much lias been snid of Forsyth's composition. Itdeserves commendation. No doubt can bo entertained that trees scarcely feel any injury from prettv severe pruning#, if the air be shut out frem the naked wood. Hut there seems to lie no reason to hold this recommendation of his composition as useful to nourish or stimulate the constitution of the trees to be any thing better thai} quackery. Common clay on a wound with a piece of bladder bound on with yarn to keep it from cracking or washing oft', would answer e very purpose of his composition, because it would keep the air out. (May mortar worked with cat tle's hair, which is a good mixture for grafting, would do for covering wounds, and to Oil up the | hollows und rotten places in tlie trunks of trees * if rags or even jmper can be secured upon the surface over the clay to keep off the violence of the rain, it would answer. Nor does it seem clear tlint the removal of e vcry particle of the cankered wood, as Forsyth directs, is necessary to the cure, of a diseased tree. Fill it up with clny mortar mixed with hair, and exclude the air and water, the fer mentation must of course cease, and nature re lieved from her malady, will hasten to renew the branches of the tree. Stop the rot and you stop the disease. There seems also to be good reason to cpiesti on whether Forsyth has been able to renew the wood of a tree where nothing remained sound but bark : yet this is what he pretends to have done. On the whole, to havo nourishing Orchards, choose good land, and keep it in good heart, without ploughing; prevent wounds on your trees, but when they happen prevent the air and wet from all communication with them. EXTRACTS. Sf.f.d.?Let your seed be such as you would wish to have your futire crop?the best vf the. kintl. Ah the largest animals produce tho must profitable stock, so it is in vegetables ; tlie lar gest seed ?if tlie kind, plump and sound, is the best, being well ripened, and kept from injuries of weather and insects. Commonlv speaking, new seed is to bo pre ferred to old,as growing more luxuriantly, and coining up the surer and quicker. As to the age of seeds at which they mm/ be sown and germi nate, it is uncertain, anil depends much how they are preserved. Seeds of cucumuers, melons, gourds, &c. which have thick horny coverings, and the oil of the seed of a cold nature, will continue good, for ten. fifteen, or even twenty years, unless they are kept in a very warm place, which will exhaust the vegetable nutriment'in a twelve month j three yearn for mm tutors, and/our for mr/ons, is generally thought to be best, as thev shoot less vigorously than newer seeds, and be come more fruitful. Oily seeds whose conts. though they are n bounding with oil of a warmer nature, will con tinue good three or four years, as radish, turnip, rape, mustard, flic. Seeds of umbelliferous plants, which are for the most part of a warm nature, lose their grow ing faculty in one, or at most two year-, as pars ley, carrots, parsnips, &c. Vetis and tortus of two years old arc by some preferred to new, as not likely to run to straw. Sowing* should bo generally performed on fresh dug or stirred ground, 'fhcrc is a nutri tions moisture in fre?di turned up soil, that sof tens the seed to swell and germinate quickly. I and nourishes it with proper aliment to proceeil in its growth with vigor, but which is evapora ted soon after from the surface. Kvelyn says, seeds for tho gardens cannot bo sown ton shallow, ho they are preserved from birds, for nature never covers them. Steeps are used to rondcr tho seed more fruit ful, as preservations against distempers, and to prevent worms from eating it. [There are many well attested facts to prove the utility of steepmg seed for sowing. In some dry seasons, especially, tho stocpiiuc of the seed or not steeping of it, makes tho difwrcnco of a garni crop or no crop tit alt. Steeps may bo a week solution of salt in water. In this tlio seed should be soaked eight or ten hours; when ta ken out sprinklo over it a quantity of newly slncked lime, or Plaster of Paris, or even ashes, stirring the seed until every grain is covered.? This operation is done immediately before sow ing.] Tull relates that n ship load of wheat wns sunk near liristol, in autumn, and afterwards at ebbs, all taken up, after it had been soaked in sen-water \ but lieing unfit for the miller, the whole cargo was bought up by the farmers, and sown in different places. At the following liar 1 tftst all tho wheat in Kngland happened vto be smutty, except tho produce of this brined seed, and tliat was all clear from smuttine*ti.v This nc cidfnt bus justified the practice of biinitigevci since, in most parts of Kngland. In Chester and Lancaster counties, (Penn sylvania) the fly has so much Injured the wheat that tnnu) fanren asc < uCleg it down for f'od dev.