298 



On Artesian Wells, S[C. 



Name of the Well. 



St Owen, 



Same, 



Epinay, 



Same, 



IMaison Blanche near Paris. 

 Mount Rouge at Paris, .... 



Depth of the Well 



from the surface of 



the place. 



Paris Feet. 

 150.8 

 203.2 

 1G6.2 

 207.8 

 121.G 

 215.5 



Height of the rise 

 above the level of 

 the Seine, at the 

 Point de la Tour- 

 nelle. 



Paris Feet. 

 G.2 

 11.1 

 24.6 

 33.8 

 64.6 

 80.0 



The two last wells, exactly those which rise highest above the 

 level of the Seine, are bored on heights, and hence their water 

 remains considerably under the surface of the earth; also in 

 both the deepest of the bore-holes is still above the level of the 

 Seine, in the first seven metres, in the last about one metre. 



In the work of Hericart, a fact is mentioned, which confirms 

 the view of artesian wells already given. Gulfs, in which rivers 

 and rivulets lose themselves, are very frequent in the Jura and 

 other similar limestone mountains, and there, Avhere the up- 

 permost bed consists of a clayey soil, which opposes the sinking 

 down of the rain, sometimes prove very beneficial in agricultural 

 operations, by carrying away the superfluous water. In some 

 places, M. Hericart remarks, man has imitated this example set 

 by nature with great effect. The draining of the plain of 

 Palans, near to Marseille, is an example of this. This plain, 

 which is at present covered with beautiful vineyards, was for- 

 merly a great marshy basin, without outlet. It was drained by 

 means of great sink-holes, which were sunk down to the un- 

 derlying porous or cavernous stone, and were connected toge- 

 ther by means of a number of ditches or drains. The water 

 which was carried away by these shafts reached, by means of 

 subterranean canals, the harbours of Mion near to Cassis, where 

 it appeared again as spouting springs. Here, therefore, man, 

 without intending it, had artesian wells, not for the purpose of 

 obtaining water, but in order to get clear of it. 



The following report, published by M. Bruckmann Kongl, 

 Wiirtemberg. Baurath, in the Verhayidlungen zur Beforderung 

 des Gewerbfleisses in Preussen, 1830, Lieferung, No. 4., affords 

 a striking proof how varied the uses are of artesian wells. M. 

 Bruckmann caused to be bored, under his inspection, from 



