270 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



region as to make the water there, though warmer, yet specifically 

 heavier than that below, and also than that within the regions of vari- 

 able winds and " constant precipitation." If so, might we not have 

 the anomaly of a warm under-current in the South Atlantic Ocean, 

 for that was the only place of escape for a counter-current from the 

 Atlantic? Proceedings of the American Association, Charleston. 



GREAT ARTESIAN WELL OF BAVARIA. 



IN 1832 the boring of an artesian well was commenced near the 

 Baths of Kissingen, in Bavaria, with a view of furnishing the salt- 

 works of that place with a supply of saline water. From the period 

 referred to, the work has been prosecuted at intervals until August 12, 

 1850, when, the auger having penetrated the earth to the great depth 

 of 1,8781 feet, a column of salt water was forced out with such pro- 

 digious force as to elevate it 58 feet above the surface of the ground. 

 The water, of remarkable clearness, issues from the soil with a tem- 

 perature of 90 F., charged with 82 per cent, of pure salt, at the ratG 

 of 100 cubic feet per minute. The force with which the column of 

 water is ejected to the height stated is due in great part to a source 

 of pure carbonic acid gas, which was met with at the depth of 

 1,680 feet from the surface, at the junction of strata of gypsum and 

 sandstone. In fact, observations made during the progress of the 

 work seem to show the existence of a stratum of carbonic acid gas, 

 underlying the whole valley of Kissingen, and imparting to the 

 springs in the vicinity a peculiarly piquant and pleasant character. 

 The saline valley in which Kissingen is situated stands at an elevation 

 of 650 feet above the level of the Baltic. The stratification of its 

 rocks from the surface downwards, as it has been revealed by the suc- 

 cessive borings, is extremely simple. The boring implements first 

 went through 1,240 feet of variegated sandstone, then through 350 feet 

 of sandstone of the Vosges formation, next through 150 feet of mag- 

 nesian limestone (Zechstein), and lastly through 1882 feet of rock 

 salt ; thus reaching a total depth, as before stated, of 1,8782 feet. In 

 the latter, or rock-salt stratum (which is presumed to be 1,000 feet 

 thick), a pure saline source is formed by solution of the rock-salt 

 in water. This solution has been found to hold not less than 27^ per 

 cent, of salt, and as there is little likelihood that they would be able 

 to penetrate into the rock beyond 30 feet deeper, to that extent the 

 perforation is to be pushed, and the well completed by the end of 

 this year. When the entire work shall have been completed, 3| 

 cubic feet of brine per minute, free from iron and all other impurities, 

 capable of yielding 501bs. of crystallized salt, will be conveyed to the 

 boiling house for crystallization, carrying with it a temperature of as 

 much as 92 F., which it will bring up from a depth of 1,900 feet. 



This well, if we except those reported to exist in China, is the 

 deepest hitherto completed. Its whole cost, from first to last, will 

 amount to 6,660, including the fixtures requisite for its present use. 

 During the first 11 years of its progress, 800 feet only were bored 

 through the rocks, and the work was often suspended and interrupted 



