258 SPARKS FROM A GEOLOGIST'S HAMMER. 



sylvania, Virginia and Ohio, with the view of collecting 

 information to guide his procedure, and had commenced 

 the sinking of two sJtafts, one on the Tittabawassee 

 near the mouth of Salt River, and the other on the Grand 

 River, about three miles west of Grand Rapids. Before 

 the close of the month the legislature made further spe- 

 cial provision for the prosecution of these two enterprises. 

 The work, however, was conducted under great difficul- 

 ties. The surface materials were first penetrated on the 

 Tittabawassee, by a shaft eight feet square, to the depth 

 of forty-five feet, when fresh and brackish water over- 

 powered the pumps, and an attempt was made to sink a 

 drill at a neighboring point. From May to November, 

 1841, the drill penetrated but 139 feet, when a rock was 

 struck (supposed by Dr. Houghton to be quartzite) which 

 the drill entered but half an inch in eleven hours, though 

 loaded with a weight of 270 pounds. At this obstacle 

 the work was abandoned. 



The well near Grand Rapids (Sec. 3, T. 6 N, 12 W.) was 

 begun in July 1838, and ended in 1842, at a depth of 

 473 feet. It was afterward carried to a depth of 876 

 feet, and somewhat beyond.* This well passed 40 feet 

 through superficial materials; 21 feet through the Mich- 

 igan Salt Group; 280 feet through the Marshall Gi'oup, 

 from which a weak brine flowed copiously; and 535 feet 

 through the Huron Group.f 



* According to information furnished by John Ball, Esq., of Grand Rapids, 

 December 22, 1862. It was bored by Hon. Lucius Lyon, under contract with Dr. 

 Houghton, for the State. Mr. Ball himself made the measurements of depth, and 

 payments accordingly, while Dr. Houghton was engaged in the Lake Superior 

 region. " The last measurement was 876 feet, and they bored a short time after, 

 and got jammed, as they express it, and gave it up." 



t These determinations and designations are of later date, and made by the 

 present writer. 



