May 27. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



499 



belief that it will cause the fire to cease, never 

 attempting to put it out by any other means. 



At Moscow there is a very noted image of the 

 Virgin Mary ; it is deposited in a recess at one 

 side of an archway leading to the Kremlin. Every 

 person passing through this archway is obliged to 

 uncover his head. I had to do so whenever I 

 passed through. The belief of the efficacy of this 

 image in healing diseases is universal. When any 

 person is ill, by paying the priests handsomely, 

 they will bring it with great pomp, in a carriage 

 and four horses, to the sick person's house, who 

 must recover, or else, if death ensues, they say it 

 is so fated. 



Instances of other images in various parts of the 

 empire, some believed to have fallen from heaven, 

 might be multiplied to any extent. I mention 

 these to show that, whatever these representations 

 of the Deity may be called, I had not written un- 

 advisedly previously, as might be surmised by 

 G. W.'s remarks. Everybody must deplore the 

 wretched condition of these people ; and the Czar, 

 well knowing their superstitious ideas, works upon 

 their fanatical minds with such letters as we all 

 have had the sorrow of seeing a specimen of in 

 The Times of to-day.* J. S. A. 



May 15, 1854. 



ARTESIAN WELLS. 



(Vol. ix., p. 222.) 



Your correspondent Sttlites is strongly ad- 

 vised not to set about making, or rather endea- 

 vouring to make, a well of this description till he 

 has been well advised of the feasibility of the 

 scheme in his particular locality. The old adage 

 will apply in this case, " Ex quovis ligno," &c. 

 It is not everywhere that an artesian well can be 

 obtained with any depth of bore ; that is, a well 

 which shall bring its water to or above the sur- 

 face of the ground. But if, on sufficient know- 

 ledge of the mineralogical structure of the country, 

 it be declared that a well of the true artesian sort 

 cannot be obtained, Stylites should dig his well, 

 say fifteen or twenty feet deep, and " stein " it, 

 and then bore in search of a spring, unless a suf- 

 ficient supply is already obtained from the sur- 

 face drainage. A moderate outlay in this way, 

 unless the impervious stratum be of very great 

 thickness indeed, will generally bring up water, 

 with a natural tendency to rise within reach of a 

 common pump, or of a well-bucket at the least. 



But it may still happen that the water of the 

 bore has not this natural tendency. In that case 

 the sinking of the well may be continued till the 

 water is reached, and a sufficient depth of re- 

 servoir obtained at the bottom. M. (2) 



* Vide Nicholas to the Commandant of Odessa. 



As practical answers to the inquiries of Stt- 

 lites on this subject, I have to say, that common 

 wells are preferable to artesian in all cases where 

 abundance of water is obtained at a depth not 

 exceeding thirty feet. I need not tell Sttlites 

 that the common sucking-pump will not draw up 

 water from a depth exceeding thirty feet. The 

 convenience of common wells is one reason why 

 artesian ones are not universally adopted ; and a 

 greater reason is that artesian wells are very much 

 more expensive to make than common ones. 

 When artesian wells are preferable to common 

 ones is, when water cannot be obtained at a depth 

 beyond the reach of the force-pump. Two of my 

 friends have made artesian wells ; one a mill- 

 spinner at Dundee, at a time when that town was 

 very ill supplied with water. He sunk a well 

 150 feet in depth and found no water. A bore 

 was then made through trap rock for upwards of 

 150 feet, and water was found in abundance on 

 reaching the underlying sandstone. The water 

 ultimately reached near to the top of the well. 

 The other well was made by a bleacher in the 

 neighbourhood of Lisburn in Ireland. All the 

 surface springs in his bleaching-grounds, which 

 are extensive, did not supply a sufficient quantity 

 for his purposes. The subsoil being boulder clay, 

 he had to bore through it to about 300 feet before 

 the water was met with ; when it rose as near the 

 top of the bore as to permit the use of a common 

 pump being worked by power. The theory of 

 the action of artesian wells has been explained by 

 Mr. Buckton (Vol. ix., p. 283.), but I have no 

 hesitation in telling Stylites that he will find 

 water almost anywhere in this country by means 

 of an artesian bore. Henry Stephens. 



dog-whippers. 

 (Vol. ix., p. 349.) 



The following Notes may contain information 

 for your correspondent C. F. W. on the subject of 

 dog-whippers. 



Richard Dovey, of Farmcote in Shropshire, in 

 the year 1659, charged certain cottages with the 

 payment of eight shillings to some poor man of 

 the parish of Claverley, who should undertake to 

 awaken sleepers, and ivhip dogs from the church 

 during divine service. Ten shillings and sixpence 

 per annum is now paid for the above service. 



John Rudge by his will, dated in 1725, gave 

 five shillings a quarter to a poor man to go about 

 the parish church of Trysull, in Staffordshire, 

 during sermon, to keep people awake, and keep 

 dogs out of the church. This sum is still paid for 

 that purpose. 



At Chislet, in Kent, is a piece of land called 

 " Dog-whipper's Marsh," about two acres, out of 



