“I will now give you a description, so far as my feeble abilities will admit, of the things which I think worthy the attention of a devotee of science.  In the first place, the springs are worthy of notice, in a natural as well as medical point of view.  They contain in their different issues all the different temperatures, from boiling, down to a pleasure bath.  They contain a combining principle, or the quality of petrifying and uniting various substances that may come in contact with them, such as flint, earth, stone, iron, &c.  The bluff from which they flow out is principally of an apparent calcareous substance, formed by the water.  In some of the springs a red, in others a green and yellow, sediment is produced.  The waters will remove rheumatism, purge out mercury, and produce salivation, in those who have it in their system previously; cure old sores and consumptions, in their early stages; cure dropsies, palsies, &c., if taken in time.

“The next curiosity is the loadstone, a specimen of which I have with me; you can examine it when you visit this country.  The next rock crystal, of which I have two specimens.[7] The fourth is alum, of which I procured a small quantity, as I did not visit the cave where it is to be obtained.  The fifth is oil and whetstone, of which there is a great abundance in that quarter.  The sixth is asbestus.  In a word, the subjects are worthy the attention of those who wish to be instrumental in enlarging or developing that branch of science.”

[Footnote 7:  Now in my cabinet.]

Mr. William Ficklin, one of the pioneers of Kentucky, but now a resident of Missouri, writes:  “I am pleased to hear of your appointment, and wish I could be with you on the route, as you will visit a section of the country but little known to our government.  I must advise you to be on your guard against the Indians, the best of whom will murder a man for a trifle, if they can meet him alone, or off his guard.

“A Mr. Nabb, a few months ago, brought me some white metal, which, he says, he smelted in a common forge—­it was as bright as silver, but too hard to bear the hammer.  I think it must be zinc.”

March 18th.—­Mr. Amos Eaton writes from Troy:  “A second edition of my Index to Geology is in the press—­about thirty-six pages struck off.  I have written the whole over anew, and extended it to about two hundred and fifty pages 12mo.  I have taken great pains to collect facts, in this district, during the two years since my first edition was published.  But I am rather deficient in my knowledge of secondary and alluvial formations; I wish to trouble you with a few inquiries upon that subject.

“From what knowledge I have been able to obtain in that department, I am inclined to arrange the secondary class thus:—­

“Breccia:  compact, or shell limestone; gypsum, secondary sandstone.

“I leave much, also, for peculiar local formations.