Vol. XIII. 



DEC. 15, 1885. 



No. 24. 



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OUR OWN APIARY. 



hather, the tkmpeh atitkk ok mothku 

 eakth; sub-eakth vkntii,.vtii>x. 



R. G. M. DOOLITTLE touches iiih-ii a point 

 that is of considcniltle inti-rcst to ino; 

 I namely, the tenii)ciature of Mother Eaiih. 

 He calls in question whether .'w", as deduc- 

 ed from Mammoth Tave, is true of all oth- 

 er localities (see page 850). T accordingly consulted 

 a number of philosophies, physical «Tofrraphies. 

 cyclopiiHlias, and other works that mifiht bear up- 

 on the subject. None of these touched upon tlie 

 particular point in question, and 1 then came to 

 the conclusion that the temperature of Mother 

 Earth is a relative term which is not uniform in all 

 localities. However, 1 found that the tempei-ature 

 of artesian wells, to a depth of »'00n feet, is nearly 

 uniform, with one or two exceptions. This tem- 

 j)erature atthis depth is about ><0° ; and one artesian 

 well, in Paris, I think, is used for heating- purposes. 

 After searching in vain in the various works 

 treating on the subject, for the temperature of the 

 earth within a few feet of the surface. 1 determined 

 to institute a series of experiments myself, and, if 

 nothing- more, ascertain tlie teiuperature of the 

 earth in Medina. Under our bee-hive factory is a 

 -well. The lifting-pump to said well will force a 

 stream of water higher than the factory, and, of 

 course, it would take but a second or two for the 

 water to come from the bottom of the well to the 

 surface of the ground. In consequence, the tem- 

 perature of the waiter would be of about the same 

 temperatuive as tlie ground at a depth of 97 feet. 

 After the pump had been running about two hours, 

 the piping and the pump itself w-ould become of 

 ,t\ie jBame temperatii^ie as the water. When the 



pump had l)een thus running we turned a jet of 

 the water, right from the bottom of the well, into a 

 pail. Into this 1 plunged a good thermometer. On 

 remaining there a few minutes the mercury show- 

 ed .')(;°. To lie more sure, another thermometer of 

 <litlerent make was tried, with the same result. 



There is another well in the factory, used for 

 drinking purposes, whose depth is ;W feet. After 

 pumping perhaps half a barrel of water from this T 

 tested the water as before, with two thermometers, 

 and tlie result showed 57°. I would say, that this 

 well is entirely inside the factory, and covered with 

 tiagging-stone, so that the temperature outside can 

 not atfect it. Thus it will be observed, that the 

 temperature of Mother Earth under our factory 

 very nearl.v tallies witli that of Mammoth Cave, 

 which is 5,")°. 



T next testod the water of our cistern at home. 

 After pumping out considerable water as before, 

 and testing, the mercury showed 49°. The cistern 

 is pretty closely covered, but I presume enough 

 frost went down through the open chain-pump to 

 sink the temperature five or six degrees. 



In Cleveland last year, during'the severe winter, 

 the water-pipes, in some cases to the depth of 4 or 5 

 ft, froze solid. This being the case, I should|suppose 

 that, under ordinary winter weather, the sub-earth 

 ventilator, being placed to a depth of 3 or 4 feet, 

 would not give a temperature much above the 



I freezing-point; and in order to get any thing'like 



j 45 degrees of heat we should want our ventilators 

 placed at a depth of 8 feet, as some have recom- 

 mended. To get 55 degrees of heat we must go to 

 a depth of at least 40 feet, and probably more.i This 



j might not be true of all places, but I feel quite 



I sure it would be of Medina. 



I I have shown that the temperature of Mother 



