Page:Essay on the mineral waters of Carlsbad (1835).pdf/98

 Springsfeld, in 1752, and Mr. Scherer, of Vienna, in 1787, were the first who wrote upon the green matter (materia viridis) of the hot waters of Carlsbad, and, after them, the celebrated algologue A. C. Agardh (Almanach de Carlsbad, for 1834, ch. IV.) described particularly the Oscillatoriae and a few Frustuliae; he repeated the same description in his Conspectus Diatomearum, of which we find again the drawings, probably taken from some entirely dried and decayed specimens, in his ''Icones Algar. Europ.'' Tab. 1—2.

An attentive observer will scarcely pass near the springs of Carlsbad (or any other hot mineral water) without remarking upon the wood and stones, which surround the wells, a limy and gelatinous green stuff, thicker or thiner, and often lamellous. Plenty of it is to be seen upon the boards, stones and pipes, which surround the hot wells, at their outlets, in short, in every place where the hot water runs or transudes. Carefully examined, that unctuous and gelatinous substance is composed of myriads of elegantly and symmetrically formed beings, most of them belonging to the animal kingdom; and their forms, their mode of life and of propagation can only excite the highest degree of astonishment.