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Remarkable Mineral Formation Which Puzzles Scientists Called “The Bath of the Damned.” With all the beauty of a cataract of living water, there is in Algeria a re markable petrified waterfall which re cently has been engaging the attention of Scientists. This is the Hammam-Meskhatin, which means “The Bath of the Damned,” and is located 62 miles from Constantine, on the site of the ancient town of Cirta. This solidified cascade is the production of calcareous de posits from sulphurous and ferrugin ous mineral springs, issuing from the depths of the earth at a temperature of 95 degrees Centigrade “The Bath of the Damned,” even from a near viewpoint, looks for all the world like a great wall of water dash ing into a swirling pool at Its foot, yet its gleaming, graceful curves and the apparently swirling eddies at its base are as fixed and immovable as if carved from the face of a granite oii. Many centuries have, of course, gone to the making of the deposits, and the springs were well known to the an cient Romans. The name Hammam Meskbutin was given to the stone cataract in an allusion to a legend that the waterfall was petrified by Allah, punishing the impiety of unbe lievers by turning all the members of a tribe into stone. At night, so the story runs, its stone dwellers of the remote past are freed from their strange fetters, come to life and re sume their normal shapes. Queer Uses for the Crocus. The crocus is nowadays held to justify its existence by its beauty, but in bygone centuries it was culti vated with an eye to profit—its saffron being in high demand both as an aromatic and as a flavoring for cakes and piles. A distinction of crocus blossoms, also, was held to be good for strengthening the lungs and heart, and as a preventive of plague. Evi dence of the flower’s commercial value survives in the name of the chief center of its cultivation, Saf fron Walden, but saffron nowadays is appreciated only by the sparrows, who wreck the crocuses to obtain it Ammonia water that has been used for washing may be used for plan. it is an excellent fertilizer
Newspaper Details
Rocky Ford Enterprise
Rocky Ford, Colorado, US
Fri, Dec 19, 1913
Page 4
Full Page
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Charlie H.
USA 05 Feb 2026
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