SOME FLORIDA LAKES AND LAKE BASINS. 1 53 



day. The well continued spouting without interruption for a Httle 

 more than a week and until shut off by the owner. 



Various fanciful theories have been advanced to account for the 

 Spouting, including supposed occurrence of gas and oil, and the 

 supposed influence of recently formed sinks in the interior of the 

 State. The true explanation is evidently much more simple. At 

 the present stage of the lake the well is receiving water at less than 

 its full carrying capacity and as the water enters the vertical pipe 

 it forms a suction carrying a large amount of air into the well, 

 which doubtless collects in a chamber or cavity along the side or 

 at the bottom of the well. As the well continues receiving water 

 the air accumulates under pressure in the earth until ultimately the 

 pressure under which the air is confined is sufficient to overcome 

 the weight of the overlying water and hence rushes out with con- 

 siderable force carrying the column of water with it. 



The fact that the well when first drilled did not spout, and 

 afterwards began spouting, doubtless indicates that the essential 

 conditions were subsequently developed either by caving or by 

 other changes in the underground cpnditions. 



The spouting of the well is therefore on the principle of the air- 

 lift pump in which air under pressure is conveyed into the well 

 through a special tube for that purpose and being liberated in the 

 well lifts a column of water to the surface. In this spouting 

 veil, however, the air pressure is developed within the well. This 

 well may, therefore, be classed as a self pumping well. 



When partly shut off so that only a limited amount of water 

 enters, the air taken into the well is able to return to the surface 

 freely. Under these conditions spouting ceases. It is probable 

 that if an elbow is placed on the well, allowing the water to enter 

 laterally instead of vertically, the amount of air taken into the well 

 v.'ill be so far reduced that the spouting will cease. Likewise 

 when the lake rises so that the water stands several feet above the 

 top of the pipe entering the well it is to be expected that the spout- 

 ing will cease, since the pipe will then be carrying water at its full 

 capacity, and little or no air under these conditions entering the 

 well.* 



The drainage wells are themselves remarkable and found in 

 such perfection only under geological conditions similar to those 

 existing in Florida. Of the many peculiarities of these wells, . 



*Since the above was written very heavy rains attending the storm of 

 October 17, 1910, caused the lake to rise 18 to 20 inches, and Mr. Unis writes 

 that when the water rose in the lake the well ceased spouting. 



