1898] NOTES AND COMMENTS 303 
NATURAL GAS IN SUSSEX 
So long ago as 1875 Mr Henry Willett noticed the discovery of an 
inflammable natural gas while conducting the Netherfield Boring. 
In 1895 another discovery was made while boring for water at the 
new Heathfield Hotel, in the parish of Waldron, East Sussex. 
Here, at a depth of 228 feet, the foreman noticed that the water in 
the bore was “ boiling,” and on applying a candle the gas caught fire 
and burnt “to about the height of a man.” The third discovery 
was made in August 1896, formed the subject of a paper 
in our August number, and is now fully described by Mr 
Charles Dawson and Dr J. T. Hewitt in the Quarterly Journal of 
the Geological Society for August 1898. About 100 yards from the 
hotel, in a cutting, the London and Brighton Railway Company, 
desiring better water supply for their engine tank, put down a 
6-inch bore. Gas was noticed for some time, but when the bore 
had reached 312 feet from the level of the permanent way, the 
rush was so pronounced that on a match being applied a flame shot 
up, which was extinguished with difficulty by damp cloths. The 
gas continued to increase in volume, but as the bore failed to supply 
the necessary water, it was abandoned at 377 feet. The tubes were 
then withdrawn, with the exception of the last, to which an iron 
cap was screwed with an 43-inch bend and stop-cock. A con- 
tinuous escape for eighteen months has occurred with a pressure of 
15 lbs. to a square inch in March and one of 20 lbs. on June 11 
this year. Analyses were made by Mr S. H. Woodhead, which 
gave :— 
Oxygen , : ; : 18 
Higher hydrocarbons. : 5'5 
Carbon monoxide , : 4-0 
Marsh gas . : : ; ace 
100°0 
and by Mr Hewitt, which gave :— 
Methane (CH,) . : : 91°9 
Hydrogen (H,) . ; 0:2 
Nitrogen (N,) ‘ ; 0°9 
100°0 
The lowest part of the bore seemed to be in the Purbeck strata, 
which are known to contain a little bituminous matter. But it 
seems more likely that the gas comes from the underlying Kim- 
meridge clay, which was richer in petroleum the lower it was 
penetrated by the Sub-Wealden Boring in 1875. 
