Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/615

 MINERAL WATERS MINERVA 597 from the fountains pass to the faucets in front. The business of furnishing aerated waters in portable fountains has greatly increased since the improvements made by Matthews in the apparatus. The fountains previously in use were superficially coated with a wash of tin, and the contents were sooner or later con- taminated by poisonous metallic salts. The Matthews fountains are composed of an inner container of pure sheet tin secured in a shell of fine cast steel. Although much lighter than the old style of fountains, the 15-gallon foun- tain weighing but 40 Ibs., they will resist a pressure of 500 Ibs. to the square inch ; and the connections being made of solid tin encased in sustaining sheets, the water cannot be con- taminated. There are now 10,000 of these fountains in use, furnishing 4,000 places for dispensing aerated waters. The most perfect and elegant dispensing apparatus, in which the sirups are contained in portable glass tanks where they do not come into contact with any metal, are now made in the United States and extensively exported to Europe. An impor- tant and novel improvement in bottling aerated beverages, an American invention, in which the bottle is closed from the inside by a glass stopper, has recently come into extensive use both in the United States and in Europe. Soda water proper is a solution of carbonate of soda in water, impregnated with carbonic acid gas. Webb's English soda water contains 15 grains of crystallized carbonate of soda in one pint of water. Chloride of sodium is fre- quently added. Bicarbonate of soda is some- times used for generating carbonic acid gas, and from this has arisen the popular use of the name soda water for carbonic acid water, or water charged with an excess of carbonic acid. German and American soda water, or what is called in France eau de seltz, contains no soda. Priestley first produced it by pouring dilute sulphuric acid over carbonate of lime, and impregnating the water with the gas; a method which is still generally followed. Under the name of soda, carbonic acid water is mixed with sirups, and it forms a constituent of many of the American compound drinks. In Paris it is taken as eau gazeuse with hock and clarets. Carbonic acid water improves the taste and increases the sanitary effect of drinks, is the best antidote for alcohol, and lessens the desire for spirituous liquors. It has a generally exhilarating and invigorating effect upon the system, essentially promotes digestion, checks too great acidity in the stomach, and is a much esteemed remedy in febrile diseases. Native wines are now extensively aerated in the Uni- ted States, and American sparkling wines pro- duced which will compare favorably with the best imported brands. This has been done only since the introduction of Matthews's ap- paratus, in which the receivers and all the parts that come into contact with the wine are lined with pure silver, a metal which does not affect it unfavorably. Mineral waters have recently been brought from the most celebrated natural springs to New York in casks lined with pure tin sheets and aerated. Large quan- tities thus prepared are bottled or dispensed from fountains, and this trade is supplanting to a certain extent the manufacture of arti- ficial mineral waters. The great therapeutical ' value of baths in carbonic acid water (cham- pagne baths) is now established. They pro- duce a pleasant burning sensation in the skin, give elasticity to the limbs, and are generally invigorating if used moderately. They are pro- duced by adding to 10 or 15 gallons of water at 110 F. an equal quantity of very strong carbonic acid water from a highly charged fountain, the escaping gas being finely divided by means of an apparatus constructed for that purpose. Chloride of sodium and of magne- sium are added for brine baths. See Carl Schultz, "Review of the History of Mineral Waters" (New York, 1865). M1NERSVILLE, a borough of Schuylkill co., Pennsylvania, on the W. branch of the Schuyl- kill river and on the Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven railroad, 4 m. W. of Pottsville, and 46 m. N. E. of Harrisburg; pop. in 1870, 3,699. It is surrounded by hills containing rich mines of anthracite, and has a national bank, a flour mill, saw mill, iron foundery, car factory, nine public schools, with a high school, a weekly newspaper, and four churches. MINERVA, called by the Greeks ATHENA, PAL- LAS, or PALLAS ATHENE, in mythology, one of the principal Olympian divinities. She was one of the most ancient religious conceptions of the Greeks. Jupiter, after a victory over the Titans, chose for his first spouse the goddess Metis ; but an oracle having declared that the son of Metis would snatch the supremacy away from his father, Jupiter swallowed both Metis and her unborn child. When the time of birth arrived, Jupiter felt a violent pain in his head, and in his agony requested Vulcan to cleave the head open with an axe ; whereupon Minerva sprang forth, according to the later accounts, in full armor, and with a mighty war shout. She first took part in the discussions of the gods as an opponent of the savage Mars. She gave counsel to her father against the giants, and herself slew Pallas and Ence- ladus, the latter of whom she buried under Mt. Etna. She was the patron of heroism among men, and aided the Greeks in the Tro- jan war. As a protectress of the arts of peace, she appears as a maiden, in many re- spects resembling a princely daughter of the early heroic period. She bears in her hand the spool, the spindle, and the needle, and is said to have invented and excelled in every kind of work proper to women. The agricul- turist and the mechanic were also under her care, and the philosopher, the orator, and the poet delighted in her protection. In all these employments she is the symbol of thought, the goddess of wisdom ; and as such she was worshipped throughout Greece, and under the