74 



June 1, 1859. 



Dr. C. T. Jackson, Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Mr. Charles Stodder read portions of a letter, dated 

 May 23, from Brandon, Vt., in reference to the frozen 

 well recently opened there : — 



The well is near the foot of a hill, about half a mile from Otter 

 Creek, on its eastern side, and on the eastern slope of the hill. The 

 hill appears to be composed mainly of coarse gravel, and from its 

 summit about half way down has a steep pitch, below the middle, 

 sloping very gradually to the sand plain on which the village of 

 Brandon is located. The well was dug in November last, from 

 30 to 35 feet deep, all the way through clear gravel varying in 

 size from a nut to an egg. At the depth of 15 feet a mixture 

 of gravel and ice was reached, which extended 15 feet more in 

 depth, and below this the water was found, the clear ice above 

 the water being about two inches thick ; the water freezes over if 

 it is left undisturbed 12 hours, and the sides of the well, for a con- 

 siderable distance above the water, sparkle with frost. 



Dr. Jackson observed, that a frozen well at Owego, N. Y., is 

 described in Vol. 36 of Silliman's Journal ; and also another near 

 Hartford, Ct., in the Proceedings of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science, at the meeting in Providence, R. I., 

 in 1855. 



Mr. John H. Blake was added to the Committee on 

 the investigation of the Brandon Well. 



Dr. Brewer remarked, that at a previous meeting (see 

 p. 21 of the Proceedings, Vol. 7,) he said, on what he 

 believed good authority, that a specimen of Bachman's 

 finch [Peuccea cestivalis^ Cab.) had been shot in Berlin, 

 Mass ; subsequent examination of the bird proves it to 

 be Henslow's bunting, ( Coturniculus Henslowi-, Aud.,) a 



