83 



spring, which comes to the surface a few rods northwest from the 

 well, has a temperature of 11° Cent. Mr. Strong's well, a few 

 hundred yards to the north of it, is 15 feet deep, and the water 

 drawn from it had a temperature of 8° Cent. Mr. Clarke's well, 

 in a field a few hundred yards from the gravel bed, had a temper- 

 ature of 6° on the 11th of June, that of the atmosphere at the 

 time being 7°. This well is 19 feet deep, and was sunk in sandy 

 soil. A spring, a few hundred yards southwest from Trombley's, 

 had, on the 11th, a temperature of 9° Cent., that of the air being 

 9^° Cent. These springs and wells are on opposite sides of the 

 frozen well, and show that they are not influenced by the cold 

 stratum, which, so far as we can learn, is quite limited. Its pre- 

 cise extent we do not yet know, and it will be subjected to further 

 researches, by digging or boring into the soil in the vicinity. 



Mr. Trombley's well is 34 ft. 4 in. deep, and has 2 ft. 4 in. of 

 water in it. The diameter of the well is about three feet ; it is 

 stoned up properly with rounded bowlders of limestone, and has 

 a curb around the top ; a marble slab, with a circular hole 

 eighteen inches in diameter through it, covers the well, while the 

 windlass is covered with a roof made of a couple of boards nailed 

 together to keep the rope from exposure to the weather. These 

 coverings, of course, stand in the way of radiation of heat from the 

 bottom of the well into space, hence the cold cannot arise from 

 radiation of heat. This we have directed to be proved, by cover- 

 ing the well closely with blankets. Mr. Wiggins has promised 

 to take charge of this experiment. 



After making these researches, we examined the geological 

 structure of the soil and rocks around and near the well, levelled 

 up to the top of the hill, and measured the distance and ascer- 

 tained the slope of the strata of sand and gravel, which dip 

 toward the well, and undoubtedly form the soil through which 

 the well was sunk. To the top of the hill, where the gravel bed 

 exists, is 45 feet from the top of the well, and 80 feet from its 

 bottom. The slope of the hill is 6° and toward the well, while 

 the strata of sand and gravel, at the outcrop, appear to have a 

 rather steeper dip in the same direction. The distance from the 

 well to the gi-avel bed is 450 feet, and its direction is N. 50° west 

 from the well. 



On examining the section of the soil exposed at the gravel bed 



