The various constructions which M. Kasloff ordered for the greater convenience of his establishment, detained us two days longer. Animated by a love of virtue and humanity, he enjoyed the pleasure of having procured these salutary and pleasant baths for his poor Kamtschadales. The uninformed state of their minds, or perhaps their indolence, would, without his succour, have deprived them of this benefit, notwithstanding their extreme confidence in these hot springs for the cure of a variety of diseases[24]. This made M. Kasloff desirous of ascertaining the properties of these waters; we agreed to analyse them, by means of a process which had been given him for this purpose. But before I speak of the result of our experiments, it is necessary to transcribe the process, in order the better to trace the mode we adopted.
"Water in general may contain,
"1. Fixed air; in that case it has a sharp and sourish taste, like lemonade, without sugar.
"2. Iron or copper; and then it has an astringent and disagreeable taste, like ink.
"3. Sulphur, or sulphurous vapours; and then it has a very nauseous taste, like a stale and rotten egg.
"4. Vitriolic, or marine, or alkaline salt.
"5. Earth,"
Fixed Air.