But  do  we  find  it  necessary  to  guard  the  amount  of
gas  for  every  water  drinker  ?  or  in  effect  to  erect  a  bed  of


SALINE   AND    GASEOUS   CONTENTS.  47

Procrustes,  and  oblige  every  one  to  conform  to  its  length  ?
By  no  means.  A.  -arrives  at  the  springs,  not  much  de-
bilitated by  disease,  and  with  a  firm,  nervous,  and  mus-
cular system ;  there  is  no  excessive  excitability  in  his
case,  and  neither  his  cerebral,  nervous,  nor  vascular  sys-
tem is  particularly  prone  to  be  aflFected  by  stimulants  or
exciting  medicines.  We  advise  him  to  use  the  water
as  it  flows  from  the  fountain^  and  if  he  should,  contrary
to  expectations,  find  that  it  stimulates  him  unpleasantly,
to  set  it  by  for  a  short  time  before  using.
B.  calls  for  advice  as  to  the  manner  of  using  the
water; — his  ten^ierament,  and  the  state  of  his  cerebral,
nervous,  and  vascular  system  is  the  opposite  of  A's, — his
physical  energies  have  been  prostrated  by  disease;  his
nerves  are  imstrung,  and,  like  his  brain,  prone  to  be
painfully  affected  by  stimulants  or  exciting  medicines.
We  advise  him  to  use  the  water  after  it  has,  either  par-
tially or  entirely,  parted  with  its  gas,  that  is,  after  it  has
been  set  by  for  twelve  or  eighteen  hours,  as  the  delicacy
and  excitability  of  his  system  demand.
The  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  Charles  Keen,
Esq.,  so  happily  represents  the  different  effects  we  daily
witness,  from  the  use  of  the  water  in  its  ungaseous  state,
that  we  insert  it  in  elucidation  of  our  own  views.
