910 PROCEEDIXGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [DeC. 



The pipe was then withdi'awn and three sticks of No. 1 d3'namite 

 put down into the hole, in contact with this obstruction, and there 

 exploded. This explosion, which w^oiild have certainly shattered any 

 boulder small enough to have been driven by the pipe line even in the 

 open air and much more so under 100 feet of water tamping, had no 

 effect whatever upon the obstruction, except to drive it downward 

 about two inches ; and when the pipe was put back into the hole and 

 again dropped on the obstruction it still bounced and rang as before. 

 This hole was then abandoned. Hole No. 4 encountered an obstacle 

 of this kind at aljout 400 feet which threatened to stop the hole. But 

 from the wear of the drills it was suspected that the obstacle did not 

 cut off all of the hole, and it was found that a two and one-half inch pipe 

 would pass this olDstruction which had stopped a four-inch pipe, and 

 this hole was continued down to 600 feet where it was lost for other 

 causes. The last hole. No. 5, did not encounter any such obstacle and 

 was the only one which attained the object of all of them, namely, 

 to find if possible the bottom of the hole. This object having been 

 attained and the five prospecting bore holes proving exceedingly tedi- 

 ous and expensive and the results more or less uncertain, it was deter- 

 mined to abandon this method of proceeding and put down a shaft 

 properly ec^uipped for penetrating the wet ground. This has been done 

 to a depth of ISO feet, and further progress now awaits the installation 

 of the machinery. 



The author feels that he can announce the following facts as abso- 

 lutely proved: 



First : That at this locality there is a great hole or crater in the earth 

 which corresponds in all respects, except in its gigantic scale, with 

 impact craters formed in rock by projectiles of considerable size mov- 

 ing at considerable velocities. 



Second : That in and around this hole and below its bottom to a 

 distance of over 1,400 feet below the present surface of the plain sur- 

 rounding it, and the original surface of the place where this hole was 

 formed, every indication of either volcanic or hot spring action is posi- 

 tively absent. 



Third : That in and about this hole all signs which might be expected 

 of the impact of such a great projectile are present. 



Fourth : That upon the surface of the rim and upon the surrounding 

 plain there has been found and still exists a large quantity of meteoric 

 material, and that the distribution of this material is symmetrical with 

 a line passing through the center of this hole. 



Fifth : That this meteoric material was deposited at the same instant 

 of time at which the hole was made. 



