300 ANNUAL OP SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. 



been met, the lowest of which rose in the tubes ten feet over the 

 surface. 



The following interesting table of the temperature of the well, at 

 various depths, has been prepared by Prof. Hume, of the State Military 

 Academy. 



Degrees Falir. 



At the surface, the temperature of the water is .... 68 



50 feet, the temperature is 68* 



100 " " 68 



200 " " 70 



800 " " 71 



400 " " 72 



500 " " . . 73| 



600 " " 74i 



700 " " 764 f 



800 " " 80 



900 " 82 



1,000 " " 84 



1,065 " " 86 



1,106 " " 88 



* At 58, eocene commences. t At 708, cretaceous commences. 



From this table it will be seen that the increase of temperature by 

 no means tallies with the increase of depth. The greatest increase 

 of temperature seems to occur about those places at which streams 

 of water were encountered, and the variations may be due to 

 the fact that the well passed through some as they descended from a 

 higher and less heated, and through others as they descended from a 

 lower and hotter level, and while the waters of both classes were still 

 to some extent influenced by their previous temperature. The 

 average rate of increase of temperature, 1 degree F.. for every fifty- 

 two and a half feet, agrees with the results heretofore obtained in 

 other wells. 



ARTESIAN WELL AT ST. LOUIS. 



An artesian well of great depth is being bored at present at St. 

 Louis, for a sugar refinery in that city. It was begun in 1849, and 

 has been worked 1,590 feet. The object is to obtain a supply of other 

 than limestone water which is the only sort that can be found by the 

 ordinary channels in that vicinity. At the present depth of 1,590 

 feet a pretty copious stream of sulphur water flows from the well, hav- 

 ing precisely the taste of the Blue Lick water in Kentucky, although 

 perhaps it is not quite so thoroughly impregnated with sulphur. It is, 

 however, concluded from recent indications, that a supply of pure sweet 

 water will be now obtained. The following is a list of the different 

 strata passed through in the course of operations. 



1st. Through limestone, 28 feet ; 2nd, shale, 2 ; 3rd, limestone, 

 231; 4th, chert, 15; 5th, limestone, 75; 6th, shale, 20; 7th, lime- 

 stone, 75 ; 8th, shale, H ; 9th, limestone, 38^-; 10th, sandy shale, 7^- ; 

 llth, limestone, 128^- ; l~2th, red marl, 15; 13th, shale, 30 ; 14th, red 

 marl, 50 ; 15th, shale, 30 ; 16th, limestone, 119 ; 17th, shale, 6G ; 18th, 

 bituminous marl, 15 ; 19th, shale, 80 ; 20th, limestone, 134 ; 21st, chert, 



