GEOGNOSTIC DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY IN THE ENVIRONS OF AREQUIPA, WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THE MINERAL WATERS IN THE VICINITY OF THE SAME CITY.
According to the “Guia Politica, Eclesiastica, y Militar del Peru,” edited by Dr. Unanue of Lima, the city of Arequipa is situated at 16° 13´ 20´´ south latitude; and it stands at the distance of about thirty leagues from its present sea-port, Islay. In making from seaward to the port of Chule, the burning mountain of Arequipa, (which now emits no smoke,) described as resembling a sugar-loaf with the top broken off, used to be taken as a landmark by the Spanish pilots on the South-Sea coasts. The population is estimated at about twenty thousand, among whom there are exceedingly few negroes or pardos. Towards the end of the twelfth century, Maita Capac, fourth sovereign of Peru, colonized the valley of Arequipa with three thousand families chosen from the neighbouring provinces; and some refer the origin of the name Arequipa to this early period, as in the Indian language the word Arequipa means, “Remain as you are, if you like it,”—in allusion to the permission given by the Inca to such of his captains as were inclined to settle in this garden in the midst of the desert.
By order of Don Francisco Pizarro, the city was founded in the year 1540. It suffered severely from the great earthquakes of the years 1582, 1600, 1604, 1687, 1715, and 1784.[62] All about Arequipa is a volcanic country, of which the natural history is very interesting, as may be learned from the following account, taken from an essay originally written and published in Spanish by Don Mariano Rivero, director-general of the mining department in Peru. This essay is deficient in minute chemical analysis; but it has the recommendation of being the only one, so far as we know, that has been written by a native Peruvian on the subjects which it embraces.
TRANSLATION.
GEOGNOSTIC DESCRIPTION.
All the environs of the city of Arequipa are composed of volcanic products; so much is this the case that its edifices are constructed of a white and very light rock, rough to the touch, which contains pieces of pumice-stone and lava. It is called in the country piedra sillar, and, in fact, is a real trachyte (traquito). It is met with in different places, at the distance of several leagues from the city,—as, for example, in the glen through which passes the road of Islay. In the route which leads to the glen of Yura, over and above the loose pieces and sand, we meet the trachyte porphyry, not only in large detached masses, but also forming portions of the soil. The principal mass is compact, of a greyish black colour, with crystals of white vitreous felspar, and spangles of bronzed mica; it passes by decomposition into an ash-coloured trachyte, less hard than the first, and very rough to the touch: the crystals of felspar and mica suffer no decomposition.
The adjacent hills are formed of rocks such as these, without presenting a decided stratification. At various points there appears a rock which, from its grain, its little hardness, the pieces of trachyte it contains, and its reddish colour, would seem to be a conglomerate of aqueous formation.
The waters which run through rocky passes give rise to deep excavations, and with much good reason these parts (along which there is a road) are denominated narrows,—for they are only a yard and a half broad. The way is intersected at various points by ravines, (quebradas,) through which several small streams descend from the snowy mountain called Chachani. About a league before we reach Yura, and on the opposite side of the glen, there is an horizontal stratification which extends towards the west, presenting an interesting contrast with the Cordillera on the east, and the hills on the side of the valley along which we pass to Yura.
It is not less worthy the admiration of a geologist to behold, amid so much arid nakedness, the bottom of the deep glen of Yura clothed with pure green and cheering verdure, which comforts the pilgrim, and serves as a soothing restorative to the sick who, sacrificing their domestic comforts and the pleasures of society, go in search of health to the baths situated in this solitary spot.
The glen of Yura, which stretches in the direction of from east to west, is in many parts extremely narrow, as at the site of the baths: but towards the Calera it opens up; and its inhabitants take advantage of this space to cultivate lucern, and collect the sub-carbonate of soda, improperly called saltpetre, which they use in manufacturing the soap consumed in Arequipa.[63]
Having passed the distance of one thousand yards, the glen again becomes narrow, until it joins with the ravine of the river of Yura, which flows from the north-east to south-west. From this place it becomes deeper and narrower, and immediately follows a westerly direction. A rivulet formed by the junction of the smaller streamlets which arise in the hill called Horqueta irrigates some land in the strath beneath; and, pursuing its course to the baths, passes them at a yard’s distance, (now ceasing to be pure water,) to unite itself with the many jets that spring up a little above the baths, as I have seen in a ditch recently opened. This rivulet follows the course of the glen; and its waters, being impregnated with saline ingredients, irrigate the lucern fields, and contribute to increase the supply of the carbonate of soda. It at length joins the river of Yura, which during the periodical rains is in the highest degree dangerous to ford, on account of its strong current, and the many stones it carries along its impetuous stream. In the glen of Yura, as well as in the ravine alluded to, the different sorts of earth are of volcanic and transition formation: the first extend to a hundred paces beyond the ferruginous baths; the prevailing rock is trachyte, of a light ash-colour, with pieces of white felspar half decomposed, pumice-stone, and scales of black mica.
In some detached masses are seen in globules the substance called perlita, (little pearl,) and black pieces, which, from their general appearance and concavities, look like lava. Ascending a little higher than the sulphurous baths, porphyry is met with; the principal mass of which is compact and black, its fracture conchoidal, and it contains crystals of white felspar. By decomposition it has partly become an ash-coloured rock, less hard and more asperate, in which is found the conduit which emits sulphurous vapours; and in my opinion it is an ancient crater. On the walls of this crater, sulphur is deposited in well-defined, acute, octahedral crystals; and, in some pieces in my possession, the pure sulphur exists in its massive state. These rocks cover a sandy ground, which from its coarse grain, composition, reddish colour, and the fragments of volcanic rocks which it contains, appears to be a sandy conglomerate; it is sufficiently consistent to admit of being cut, and to serve for architectural purposes: there are certain places, as in the Calera, and near the baths, where it is many yards thick: this earth reposes on the transition series.
The earths, or mineral substances last mentioned, occupy all the parts to the north and west: they are composed of gres, (a stone abounding in sand,) semi-compact in some layers, and in others it has a fine grain; its colour is a dirty white, inclining to green, and it passes to a lightish black when it is near to the layers of the black “esquito hojoso,” (foliated schist,) with which it alternates: it contains small spangles of mica. The natives extract laminæ of this gres of more than a yard in length, and of a quarter in breadth, which serve to line the upper part of the boilers wherein soap is made. The black “esquito” also divides itself into laminæ of good size; but, for the most part, it breaks very easily, forming small pieces which fall down to the bottom of the glen. A heavy substance of dark colour, which separates in large pieces, and effervesces when brought into contact with the acids, is found in the “esquito,” and near to the layers of gres: it appears to be a carbonate of iron, (carbonato de hierro litoideo,) like that which is met with in the coal-mines of England and France. In the “esquito” I have observed impressions of plants, vestiges of coal, crystals, and small plates of gypsum.
The transition formation extends to the north and to the west, at great distances. I am also assured that coal is met with near to the village of Yura. Over the horizontal bed of gres, the direction of which is from east to west, with an inclination northward, may be observed the white, compact, fibrous gypsum of Synchita, distant six leagues from the glen, which, as I conceive, belongs to the gypsum of the vale of Vitor.[64]
On the south side of the river Yura, in the locality called Calera, is found in layers or coats of considerable thickness, but of little extent, a limestone of a cellular and porous structure, composed in a great degree of very small and delicate tubes: their colour is a dirty white, and by all their signs and characters they appear to owe their origin to infiltration. From this stone is made the lime which is consumed in Arequipa and its neighbourhood.
ANALYSIS OF THE MINERAL WATERS OF YURA.
Mineral waters are distinguishable from common water by their taste, particular smell, colour, temperature more or less raised, and by their not being applicable to domestic purposes. They are found in different parts of the world in springs and wells: sometimes they are of the same temperature with the soil through which they pass, and at other times their temperature rises to the boiling point of water,—and then they are called thermal waters. In the countries where these waters appear, they had attracted the attention of the inhabitants since very remote times, and were medicinally employed internally as well as externally; but, since their component parts were but imperfectly known, they were often applied injudiciously, and they did not always obtain the reputation they merited, for their effects were sometimes contrary to those which the physicians desired to produce.
At the close of the seventeenth century chemists began to discover the substances to which mineral waters owed their peculiar properties; and, since this happy era, they have made such rapid progress in science, that in the present day we are acquainted with many of these substances. This knowledge we owe to simple and more exact methods of analysis. Nature appears to have favoured in an especial manner the environs of Arequipa with thermal springs to cure those maladies to which its inhabitants are subject. This is, however, no more than might be expected, considering the variety of medicinal ingredients with which the waters become impregnated as they slowly percolate through beds of lava, or issue from the deep recesses of burning mountains.
The baths of Yura are situated in a small and narrow glen, several leagues to the N.N.W. of the city, and only one league from the village of the same name,—which, according to my measurement, is one hundred and seventy Spanish yards (varas) above the square of Arequipa.[65]
The road to the baths is very bad, and, above all, the declivities are so; for the number of stones and narrow windings render it in the highest degree disagreeable, to which the dull uniformity of the landscape also contributes. To the right, all that presents itself to the traveller’s view is the lofty volcano, the contiguous hills being denuded of every blade of vegetation except the cactus Peruvianus, of melancholy aspect, seen here and there along the surrounding slopes; and, if he turn his eye to the left, he looks upon sterile plains cut up by mountain torrents, or a group of hills perfectly arid, of greater or less elevation, and in parts covered with white sand.
The analysis of the waters of Yura was attempted by the celebrated naturalist Haenk in the year ’96; but, this philosopher not having ascertained their constituent parts, I have now the honour of presenting to the public the result of my investigations regarding these waters, and several others which are used by the inhabitants of the city. In the narrow glen of Yura there are two situations in which springs of thermal water present themselves, and the one is distant from the other about one hundred and fifty yards. The first, called agua de hierro, or ferruginous water, is on the left-hand side of the road as we come from the Calera; and those springs which are higher up are denominated agua de azufre, or sulphurous water. I will begin by giving an account of the agua de hierro.
THE FERRUGINOUS WATER.
From a little plane covered with grass, distant from the rivulet three yards, and four from the ash-coloured trachytic rock, water bubbles up at various points, forming large globules, as if boiling. Its temperature is 94° of Fahrenheit, that of the air being 68°. In the corner where these jets are found, there are at short distances small wells of equal temperature, except one at 67°, which is found at the distance of a yard from the principal jet; and it is the more worthy of notice, as it happens to be very near to the water which indicates higher temperature. All these little wells render tribute to the principal one, and to the rivulet; their banks, and the bottom of one of the baths, contain a very fine yellow substance, which is the true oxide of iron. These waters are very transparent, without smell, and with taste half acidulated and astringent; they disengage a gas which, passed through lime-water, or a solution of the acetate of lead, throws down precipitates soluble with effervescence in acetic acid. They redden the tincture of violets and blue paper, which loses its colour on drying, and this proves the existence of a free acid; being agitated, an air is disengaged with noise: all the acids, weak and strong, produce effervescence with these waters. The prussiate of potash, when a little of any acid is added to it, causes in the ferruginous water a blue precipitate, which is the prussiate of iron. Iron-water being boiled, it loses the property of effervescing with the acids, of forming a precipitate with the prussiate of potash, and also its astringency. A bottle of water being evaporated affords, during the operation, a light, white precipitate, and its surface becomes covered with a most delicate film. The operation, if continued to dryness, yields sixteen grains of salts, which I have analyzed. It appeared from the analysis that the iron-water is composed of the following ingredients and proportions.
One bottle, or a pound and a half, of water afforded
| Carbonic acid | 10½ | grains. |
| Muriatic acid | 2 | |
| Sulphuric acid | ¼ |
A hundred grains of the salts were composed of
| Carbonate of magnesia | 26 | grains. |
| Carbonate of lime | 6 | |
| Muriate of soda | 15 | |
| Bicarbonate of soda | 40 | |
| Sulphate of iron | 3 | |
| Insoluble matter, consisting of silex and sulphate of lime | 8 | |
| 98 |
This water greatly resembles, in its contents, that of Selz, Spa, and Carlsbad. The exact quantity of carbonic acid which it disengages could not be ascertained, for want of proper instruments for the purpose. The carbonic acid of the saline parts is sufficient to saturate the lime, magnesia, and soda.
MEDICINAL VIRTUES OF THE FERRUGINOUS WATER OF YURA.
The ferruginous waters are stated by Mr. Rivero, on the authority of Haenk, and of Dr. Vargas of Arequipa, to be tonic, deobstruent, laxative, diuretic, &c.; and, therefore, well calculated to remove general debility, certain forms of hypochondriasis, dyspepsia, and weakness consequent on debauchery.
THE SULPHUROUS WATER.
The jets (los ojos) of this water, as we formerly noticed, are placed above the ferruginous baths, situated in a narrow part formed by the trachyte rock on one hand, and on the opposite side by the gres, or sandy soil, which furnishes the carbonate of soda. An oblique fissure, extending to the base of the trachyte rock, serves as a conduit to this thermal water, which unites itself with that which flows from the bottom of the bath named Tigre. A short way from this jet there are others which flow from other clefts, at almost the same degree of temperature.
It is observed that the source of these waters is at some distance in the interior of the rock, and, according to my notions, they hold communication with the crater, which emits sulphurous vapours, situated a few paces from the water underneath the very house where the sick repose. With respect to the water, having filled a small well situated at the base of the rock where people drink from, the chief object is to have it conducted to the bathing-pits, or basins. The superfluous water not needed for the baths flows out from them by a small channel; and it goes to join the rivulet, which passes within three yards of the bathing apartment.
The sulphurous water flows out in good quantity, making a peculiar noise, and emitting a smell of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, like that of rotten eggs; which is perceptible at the distance of many paces from the place, when the winds are from the east and west. The disengagement of carbonic acid gas occasions the noise alluded to, through the innumerable bubbles which rise on the surface; and at the same time it occasions a shower of aqueous particles, mixed with sulphuretted hydrogen and carbonic acid gas; its colour is whitish, transparent; and on the walls and canals of the baths, it leaves a whitish substance, somewhat dirty, very fine, which when examined proves to be impure sulphur; its taste is at the same time sweetish and acidulated, but it leaves on the palate the taste of rotten eggs.
In the bathing apartment there are four large reservoirs, or basins, constructed with stone and lime; they are equal in size, communicate the one with the other, and are named Tigre, Sepultura, Desague, and Vejeto: in these reservoirs, however, the temperature of the water is not equal: the first indicates on the thermometer of Fahrenheit 90°, the second 89°, the third 88°, and the fourth 87°; the air of the habitation being 70°. In the place where this water was first discovered, it at present indicates as many as 90°: Haenk, in the year in which he instituted his analysis, observed that it was only 86°, which proves that the temperature has since then increased.
The gas which arises from this water, when collected, extinguishes flame; produces in lime-water a precipitate which dissolves in acetic acid with effervescence; and it precipitates the acetate of lead, of a dirty yellow colour. The water reddens blue paper; but, on drying, it recovers its original colour, a circumstance which proves that there is a free acid: turmeric paper it does not change the colour of, unless its volume has been decreased by evaporation. A few drops of any acid produce effervescence. The nitrate of silver gives a violet-colour precipitate, the acetate of lead a dirty yellow, the muriate of barytes a white, but it is necessary to add to it a few drops of acid; the prussiate of potash produces a blue precipitate, using the precaution to reduce the water, and of adding to it some drops of nitric or muriatic acid. Liquid ammonia renders it turbid, which shows that it contains magnesia; corrosive sublimate produces a half obscure precipitate, which afterwards effervesces with an acid; it instantly coagulates milk, renders wine and the water of peaches or pears turbid, giving rise to effervescence with the three last. A piece of clean silver, if placed in it for some minutes, becomes somewhat black; when agitated, it disengages carbonic acid with precipitation, and all the water is filled with bubbles; when boiled, it loses its smell, it disengages all the free acid, and it no longer reddens blue paper.
Four bottles of this water, when evaporated, have given forty-three grains of salts: during the evaporation the surface became coated with a white film, and a light white substance was precipitated, which consisted of the carbonate of magnesia and lime, abandoned by the carbonic acid which had held them in a state of solution.
One hundred grains, obtained by evaporation, yielded
| Insoluble matter composed of silica and sulphate of lime | 10 | grains. |
| Carbonate of magnesia | 28 | |
| Muriate of soda | 14 | |
| Carbonate of lime | 7 | |
| Sulphate of iron,—indications of Bicarbonate of soda | 39-98 |
The sulphuretted hydrogen gas, and the carbonic acid disengaged, could not be ascertained, for want of proper apparatus.
The water of the four baths fitted up for the sick is of the same quality with the one here analyzed; with the difference that in the three last its temperature is less, and that it does not disengage in such quantity the sulphuretted hydrogen nor the carbonic acid.
The new water of Haenk, and that from another jet or source which has been more recently discovered, possess the same qualities with those of the baths; differing, however, in this respect, that they do not disengage sulphuretted hydrogen gas. The water recently discovered, of which the temperature is 91°, contains more iron, but not in such quantity as the waters of the ferruginous bath. It is of a somewhat sweetish acidulated taste, and it leaves a certain asperity on the palate. Reagents act upon these in the same way as they do on the sulphurous water.
PECULIARITIES OBSERVABLE IN THE SULPHUROUS WATER BATHS.
Shortly after having entered the bath, the whole body becomes covered with numberless air-globules of a pearly appearance. Some degree of heat and pungency is felt all over the skin; and, soon after immersion in the water, the smell from it ceases to be perceived. It occasions a slight degree of uneasiness in respiration, arising from the large quantity of carbonic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen which arises from its surface.
MEDICINAL EFFECTS OF THE SULPHUROUS WATER.
According to Dr. Don Jose Maria Adriasola y Arve of Arequipa, it has been found by experience, that, since times of remote antiquity, the baths of the sulphurous waters of Yura have produced the most salutary and specific effects in a great variety of cutaneous diseases. In various instances of chronic disorder of the bowels, and dysentery attended with intestinal ulceration and wasting of the general system, or what has been improperly termed intestinal consumption, Dr. Vargas found that these waters restored the healthy action of the digestive organs, kept up a proper cuticular discharge, and radically cured such apparently hopeless cases.
This same water is also allowed to be excellent for the cure of chronic rheumatism, certain deep-seated pains, and contracted joints, &c.
Mr. Rivero gives the following method as that by which invalids are to profit by the use of the sulphurous baths of Yura.
The first four or six baths must be taken in the bathing-places named Desague or Sepultura, which emit less gas and are of lower temperature; for by entering the bath called Tigre, which is the most active, the body experiences a very disagreeable sensation, and at the same time the breast is peculiarly affected.
To be in a fit condition for enjoying the advantages of the bath, the individual must have the stomach empty, be free from fatigue, perspiration, as well as mental emotion of every sort. The bath should not be continued above three quarters of an hour, and in the Tigre one should not remain above twenty or thirty minutes. Should the nature of the disease so require, the invalids may bathe twice a day. A purgative of cream of tartar or Epsom salts should be taken as a preparative for bathing in these baths. Strict attention to diet, daily exercise to favour perspiration, and great care to avoid exposure to damp or chills during the time of taking exercise, or coming from the bath, are requisite precautions.
The effects of these waters are slow of manifesting themselves, and, for this reason, their continued use in many cases is necessary; to their perseverance and constancy in this respect many individuals, now in the enjoyment of perfect health, owe their recovery.