- Decembkr i6, 1897J 



NATURE 



151 



An iron cap has now been fixed on the top of the tube with 

 a vent, allowing an escape of tlie gas to take place continuously 

 (see Fig. 2). When lighted this jet flares out about the same 

 size and colour as one of the " naphthi Pareis" commonly 



Fig. I. — Flama of natural gas from oore-hole at Waldron, before the present 

 cap was fixed on the tube. The broken line near the top shows the 

 height of the flame through the six-inch bore-tube. 



used for lighting at fairs and markets, viz. about 12-inch flame. 

 This cap and vent have now already been fixed about fifteen 

 months, and the gas from the vent can be lit at any time, and 

 shows no .sign of diminution 



Fig. 2. — Bore-tube in well, with cap having a .small vent fixed upon the top. 

 The flame of natural fgas is shewn rising to the left. 



I have taken samples of^the gas, and submitted it to the county 

 analyst for East Sussex (Mr. S. A. Woodhead), and he informs 

 me, although he has not yet completed his analysis, that the 

 gas is probably derived from petroleum. The presence of 

 certain beds impregnated with petroleum underlying these 



NO. I46S, VOL. 57] 



Wealden beds in East Sussex, has been noticed before while 

 making deep shaft.s and borings. 



Many of the beds in the I'urbeck strata (Brightling series) 

 consist of dark leathery shales which emit a strong odour of 

 petroleum, and small traces of it are also occasionally met with 

 m ihe Gypsum quarries at Netherfield (Sussex). Beds of lignite, 

 and a variety resembling " Cannel coal " (about 2 feet thick) 

 have been met with' near the surface in the paiish of Waldron 

 ( Lower bed of Ashdown sand, Fairlight clays), and several 

 l)ands of lignite were pierced by the boring at Waldron where 

 the " gas " was found. 



The gas is probably derived from these beds of lignite, and 

 perhaps from the petroleum shales of the Purbeck beds ; c r 

 possibly, but less probably, from the Kimeridge clay under- 

 lying these beds (Sub- Wealden boring), which contains a hard, 

 light-coloured bed rich in petroleum. 



In reading through the quarterly reports of Mr. Henry 

 Willett, made during the progress of the SubWealden boring 

 (Netherfield, 1875), I fi'''*^ ^^^"^ strange oscillations had been 

 noticed in the depth of the water in the bore-tube. These were 

 attributed to the "acfcumulation and discharge of carbonic acid, 

 and of inflammable gases derived probably from the petroleum- 

 bearing strata beneath. The discharge of these gases was proved 

 by the extinction of light at various depths, and by an explosion 

 at another time." 



The discovery of the gas has hitherto been kept a secret among 

 a few. There appears to be at present an ample supply of 

 gas for the lighting of a town if the necessary plant were erected 

 in connection with the tube, and there also seems to be, so far as 

 one can judge, a constant supply. How long it may continue is, 

 of course, a matter of conjecture ; but having already run to 

 waste so long without any decrease in force, I think that the 

 supply might be made use of with reasonable prospects of 

 lengthy continuance. 



This notice must be regarded as a preliminary one merely, 

 as I am making experiments with the gas, and examining the 

 cores of the boring with a view to ascertain the source of the 

 supply. Charles Dawson. 



Uckfield, Sussex. 



THE ORIENTATION OF GREEK TEMPLES} 

 T N giving an account of my second series of observa- 

 ■*- tions on the orientations of Greek temples, and the 

 chronological deductions which may be made from them, 

 it seems desirable to recapitulate as briefly as possible 

 the main points which underlie the inquiry. 



The subject was introduced to me about eight years 

 ago by Sir Norman Lockyer, who had discovered that 

 there was a very strong probability that in every case the 

 axis of an Egyptian temple, or in other words its orienta- 

 tion, was aligned to that point of the local horizon where 

 at the time of its foundation some conspicuous star rose 

 or set, and that in the case of temples oriented within 

 zodiacal limits, it was also so arranged that on the day 

 of the principal feast of any particular temple, which 

 always took place on a day when the sun at its rising 

 would shine upon the altar or statue of the god, the 

 star should be seen from the sanctuary, through the 

 always narrow eastern opening, shortly before sunrise. 



There is plenty of evidence from various sources that 

 heliacal stars, as they are called ; that is, stars when 

 just visible at their rising before their light is over- 

 powered by the rays of the rising sun, or setting whilst 

 still distinguishable, were very much observed by the 

 ancients. And the use of an heliacal star so observed 

 in connection with temple worship was to give warning 

 to the priests to enable them to be ready for the sacrifice 

 or other function at the exact moment of sunrise. 

 Roughly speaking, a bright heliacal star would in Greece 

 give nearly an hour's warning of the sun's approach, 

 though somewhat less in Egypt. 



If in almost every case a connection, such as I have 

 indicated, between the orientation of a temple and the 



1 Abstract of a paper read before the Royal Society, M.irch ii, 1897. 

 On the Orientation of certain Greek Temples, and the Dates of their Founda- 

 tion, derived from Astronomical Considerations —being a supplement to a 

 paper on the same subject published in the Transactions of the Royal 

 Society in 18Q3— by F. C. Penrose, F.R.S 



