In order to test the presence of salt, M. des Boz melted some of the
ice, and evaporated the resulting water, but found no taste of salt in
the matter which remained.[183] He denied the existence of the spring of
water which previous accounts had mentioned, and believed that the water
which formed the ice came solely from melted snow, and from the
fissures of the rock.
In 1727, the Duc de Levi caused the whole of the ice to be removed from
the cave, for the use of the army of the Saone, which he commanded. In
1743 the ice had formed again, and the grotto was subjected to a very
careful investigation by M. de Cossigny, chief engineer of Besancon, in
the months of August and October.[183] The thermometer he used had been
presented to him by the Academy, and was very probably constructed by M.
de Reaumur himself, for de Cossigny's account was sent through M. de
Reaumur to the Academy, but still the observations made with it cannot
be considered very trustworthy. On the 8th of August, at 7.30 A.M., the
temperature in the cave was 1/2 deg. above the zero point of this
thermometer, and at 11.
Pages:
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452