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Abstract

In the Lombard-Veneto Kingdom, founded in 1815 under Austrian rule in the northwestern regions of Italy, the mineral waters were the object of a special attention by the political authorities, often with the direct intervention by the Archduke Ranieri. Chemical researches on the properties, composition, transportation and conservation of the water from different sources in the area of Recoaro, near Vicenza, were carried out by Girolamo Melandri Contessi (professor of chemistry at Padua University). In his work, carried out for ten years and more, he developed a new analytical procedure by following the suggestions made by J. Murray, a Scottish physician who applied the stoichiometric relations to the quantitative determination of salt content. The gas content was exactly measured with the Lavoisier's gasometer, improved by a device for the fine gauge. Melandri also built an apparatus for bottling water with carbon dioxide to avoid contamination by atmospheric oxygen.