An analysis of the mineral waters of Saratoga and Ballston : with practical remarks on their medical properties; together with a history of the discovery and settlement of these celebrated watering places, and observations on the geology and mineralogy of the surrounding country / by John H. Steel.

  • Steel, John H. (John Honeywood), 1780-1838.
Date:
1838
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An analysis of the mineral waters of Saratoga and Ballston : with practical remarks on their medical properties; together with a history of the discovery and settlement of these celebrated watering places, and observations on the geology and mineralogy of the surrounding country / by John H. Steel. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. Iy presenting to the public a new work on the mineral waters of Saratoga, some explanation may be deemed ne- cessary. These waters had been considerably resorted to, and had become quite celebrated for their medicinal qualities, particularly about the country, long before any thing more was known of their properties than what was gathered from the effects which they produced, when taken into the stomach. Dr. Seaman, of the city of New-York, who visited the place as early as 1793, undertook, while on the spot, some chemical experiments on the water, in order to determine its real character; and to him the public are indebted for the first scientific effort ever made to elucidate its true properties. His publication contained much useful infor- mation on the subject, but his experiments were limited to only one of the fountains, and his deductions were not al- ways conclusive. Several other scientific notices of the waters were subsequently published by able chemists, but they were not more successful in producing satisfactory results; and, although they went far to corrobrate the opinions and views of the Doctor, they afforded no addi- tional information to that which he had previously acquir- ed; so that the discreet physician, when called upon to