SPRINGS. 209 



ages and composition, and also of subterranean passages. At 

 Tours, seeds and stems of marsh plants were brought up, and in 

 such condition that they could not have been more than three or 

 four months in water; and at Westphalia, small fish were thrown 

 out, three or four inches long, the nearest streams being at the 

 distance of some leagues. laboring an Artesian well near Buf- 

 falo, recently, for the purpose of obtaining pure water for the use 

 of the Gas Works, after having penetrated some 25 feet from 

 the surface, the laborers came upon limestone rock ; upon pene- 

 trating thjs rock twenty-five inches, the drill fell into a cavity, and 

 upon being withdrawn a jet of water followed, and continued to 

 ,flow, until the water in the well rose to the level of the lake. Sub- 

 sequent observations have shown Lake Erie to be the supply 

 fountain, for when the waters of the lake rise or fall, by the action 

 of wind, the water in the well changes its level in conformity- 

 It appears thdt one of the large and numerous fissures common 

 in this particular series of rocks, and which in this case commu- 

 nicated with the lake was pierced by the drill, and furnishes a 

 fine illustration of the law which governs the production of 

 springs and fountains. 



By the long continued action of underground streams, caverns 

 and fissures, are formed and enlarged, and it is highly probable 

 that rivers are flowing within the surface of the earth. In Staf- 

 fordshire there is a spring which discharges annually more water 

 than all that falls in the surrounding country. In Virginia, ten 

 miles from Harrisburg, is a spring called the " Big Spring." It 

 rises suddenly from the foot of a limestone hill, and continues a 

 stream some yards in breadth, and half a foot deep, with force 

 sufficient to turn two largo mills. At Kingston, Rhode Island, 

 there is a spring which rises from primitive rocks, and dischar- 

 ges such a quantity of water that JL grist-mill has been driven by 

 it for a great number or years, and more recently a large cotton 

 factory has been erected, which depends entirely upon the water 

 of this spring to turn the whole machinery. In flowing through 

 the different strata, springs become impregnated with various min- 

 eral substances. The solvent power of water exceeds that of 

 any other liquid, and hence most spring waters are charged with 



