and the horses turned loose they invariably, of their own accord,
proceed to the lake, wade out into shallow water and take a bath.
They lie down and splash the water about like a lot of schoolboys
taking a swim.

The water from all the springs is perfectly soft and pure. It
cannot be called a mineral water, as an analysis shows that it
contains only a trace of any kind of mineral matter. This
peculiarity of the water is no damage to the springs, since
purity is the best recommendation that any water can have. Water
that is heavily mineralized may be medicinal, but is not
necessarily remedial, or even wholesome, notwithstanding the
popular belief to the contrary. Water that is charged with much
mineral is spoiled for drinking. Moderately hard water need not
be injurious to anybody, but is especially beneficial to
children. The assimilative function in the child appropriates
mineral water tardily and sometimes absorbs it altogether too
slowly for the child's good. Its absence in the system causes a
disease called rickets, in which, from all lack of lime, the
bones of the child become soft and yielding. The bones of a
rickety child will bend rather than break. It is slow to walk
and inclines to become bow-legged.

It is entirely different in old age. As the years multiply the
system absorbs an abnormal and ever increasing amount of
calcareous matter. The bones become unduly hard and brittle and
are easily broken. Bony matter is liable to be deposited in and
about the joints, when they become stiff and painful. It also
lodges in the various soft tissues of the body, and ossification
of the valves of the heart and walls of the arteries sometimes