Min′eral Waters, strictly speaking, are waters impregnated with mineral solutions by natural processes; but the term is commonly applied to all waters which possess real or even fancied therapeutic value other than that of ordinary water. In consequence hot springs are often spoken of as mineral springs when used for medicinal purposes. The ancients had great faith in all waters which felt or tasted other than the common “springs which run among the hills.” Josephus mentions the visits of Herod to the warm baths of Callirrhoe near the Dead Sea. Tiberias was famous for its springs of hot sulphur water. The Romans frequented the gaseous springs situated in southern Italy, much visited by tourists to-day. The springs of Karlsbad, Aix-la-Chapelle, Baden-Baden and Ems are well known. In our country Saratoga has been a resort ever since the settlement of New York. White Sulphur Springs in Virginia, Hot Springs in Arkansas and many others are popular resorts. It is impossible to divide the springs into any well-defined classes as salt springs often contain sulphur, and alum springs may hold a dozen other minerals in solution besides the one giving the water its name. The best known springs, those at Saratoga, contain more of chloride of sodium (common salt) than of any other or all other mineral substances, bicarbonate of lime standing second and bicarbonate of magnesia third. It is carbonic acid gas which gives these springs their delightful effervescence. In the United States there are about 300 springs whose waters are bottled and put on the market.
Mineral Wool is the thread-like filaments produced by the action of steam or compressed air upon vitreous substances in a molten state. The product is also called silicate cotton by some, as its principal material is silica. The fibers produced are used to incase boilers and steam-pipes, thereby preventing the diffusion and waste of heat. It also is of great value in deadening sounds. As it will not burn or rust and is not subject to the depredations of insects, it is of great value in many mechanical adjustments. The use of it increases every year. The best mineral wool is obtained from the melting of a cinder made by mixing together four parts of orthocase feldspar and six parts of dolomitic limestone.
Miner′va, in Roman mythology the goddess of wisdom. She seems to be the same as the Greek Pallas Athené. She was said to have sprung in full armor from the head of Jupiter. She was the patron god of Athens, and her statue by Pheidias adorned the Parthenon. In her hand she carried the spindle, needle and spool, and was skilled in all kinds of woman's work. She was patron of art and trades; painters, teachers and physicians invoked her aid. Minerva, like Athené, is represented in art with a grave and majestic countenance, armed with helmet, shield and spear. The olive-branch, serpent and owl were sacred to her. Her festival, held in March, lasted from the 19th to the 23d.
Minié (mē̇′nyā̇′), Claude Étienne, a French inventor, born at Paris, in 1804. He served in the army, rising from private soldier to major. His experiments in the improvements of firearms resulted in the invention of the Minié rifle in 1849. He made improvements also in rifle balls, cartridges and gun-barrels. In 1858 he was appointed director of a military school at Cairo, Egypt, by the khedive. He died in 1879.
Min′ing, the process by which mineral matters of commercial value are taken from their natural position and made available for shipment. The substances mined consist not only of metals and the ores of metals, but of various nonmetalliferous substances, as coal. In the broadest sense of the term mining may also include the minning of such substances as natural gas, mineral oils, clay, building-stone, natural fertilizers and salt, though other terms are commonly applied to the processes by which these substances are made available.
Occurrence. The materials mined occur in various forms, chief among which are (a) bedded deposits chiefly beneath the surface, (b) vein deposits and (c) surface deposits.
(a) Bedded deposits include (1) such bodies of valuable mineral matter as lie in beds essentially parallel to the associated layers of rock and (2) deposits which are disseminated through stratified rocks. Examples of (1) are many iron and all coal beds. An example of (2) is the copper in the conglomerate beds of the Lake Superior region. The former (1) are really layers of rock, formed later than the rock which lies below them, but before that which lies above. The second group (2) usually are of secondary origin; that is, the valuable mineral matter was concentrated where it now is, after the rock was formed.
(b) Veins are the fillings of cracks or fissures in rock. The filling is generally accomplished through the agency of underground water, which dissolved the mineral matter from the rock, brought it to the fissures and there deposited it. Veins are called mineral veins or, often, lodes, if the material is valuable for commercial purposes. The walls of veins are often impregnated with useful mineral matter like that of the vein proper, and the term is then made to cover those parts of the walls which contain the valuable matter as well as the vein itself. Veins differ from bedded deposits in that they usually are more irregular, less continuous, and have no definite relation to the bedding planes of the rock. Both bedded and vein deposits may be horizontal, vertical or inclined at any angle. Bedded
