1335.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



83 



Of the advantage to which industry, in various 

 circumstances, has turned the waters of foun- 

 tains. 



On the present occcasion we need not dilate on 

 the benefits these waters confer on public health, 

 nor on their use in irrigation, &c. &c. We shall 

 only point out their application to a few purposes 

 which are less generally known. 



These springs have been put in requisition even 

 in countries where more common water-courses 

 are not untrequent. Their constant and high tem- 

 perature permits them to be applied to the move- 

 ment of machinery during the most severe win- 

 ters, whether it be directly, when they are abun- 

 dant, or in other cases, only as a means of wash- 

 ing away the ice, which is apt to stop the move- 

 ment of the water-wheels. 



In Wurtcmburg, M. Brtickman, by transmitting 

 through metallic pipes, conveniently placed, a cur- 

 rent of water, at the temperature of 54° Fahr., 

 which is derived from several natural springs, 

 keeps up a temperature at 47°, in various manu- 

 factories where the external cold lowers the ther- 

 mometer to zero. This is a simple imitation of a 

 plan which has been long practised in the village 

 of Chaudes-j^iguesj the results, however, are 

 worthy of consideration. 



Greenhouses also are in existence, in which the 

 temperature is maintained very equally, by the ef- 

 fects of the constant circulation of a large quan- 

 tity of water, derived from these sources. 



During heavy rains, the work of paper-mills is 

 often interrupted, on account of the impurity of the 

 water. These forced stoppages come to an end, 

 when the constant limpid supply of a projecting 

 fountain can be employed. 



In some localities the invariably pure waters of a 

 steady temperature, proceeding from these springs, 

 have been the means of establishing very lucra- 

 tive artificial cress-plots. The beautiful growth of 

 cresses in those parts of the beds of rivulets where 

 these natural springs existed, has suggested this 

 application. It is positively stated that the artifi- 

 cial cress-plots of Erfurt yield not less than 

 £ 12,000 per annum, 



The very fine lint which is intended for the man- 

 ufacture of cambric, lawn lace, &c. is steeped in 

 the department du JYord, with very particular 

 care. In a single commune, between Douai and 

 Valenciennes there are ten or a dozen retting- 

 pools, which are fed entirely by water from the 

 projecting fountain. It has been thought that the 

 purity of these waters, and the invariability of 

 their temperature, by accelerating the solution of 

 the gum-resins, preserve the valuable qualities of 

 the filaments of the lint in the highest degree of 

 perfection. 



In fish ponds, the fish are apt to die during the 

 winter, from the severity of the cold, and in sum- 

 mer from the heat. By turning the invariably 

 temperate waters of an abundant artesian well 

 into them, the extreme variations which the sea- 

 sons induce are prevented. This experiment, it is 

 said, has entirely succeeded in the ponds of St. 

 Gratian, near to Montmorenci. 



Caverns into which whole rivers are engulfed. 



This phenomenon in a high degree excited the 

 attention of the ancients. Thus even Pliny men- 



tioned as among the rivers which disappeared un- 

 der the surface of the earth, the Alpheus in the 

 Peloponnesus, the Tigris in Mesopotamia, the 

 Timavus in the teritory of Aquillia, &c. He also 

 ranks the Nile in the same class, for, according to 

 him, it disappears for the space of three day's 

 journey belbre its entrance into the Cesarian Mau- 

 ritania, and also to the extent of twenty days' 

 journey upon the frontiers of Ethiopia. Come we 

 now, however, to examples that are nearer to our- 

 selves, better determined, and more known. 



The Guadiana loses itself in a flat country in 

 the midst of an immense meadow. Here we have 

 the explanation of the fact, that, when we are 

 speaking with admiration of some superb bridge 

 in France or England, the Spaniards remark that 

 they have one in Estremadura upon which a hun- 

 dred thousand head of cattle can feed at the same 

 moment. 



The Meuse disappears at Bazoilles. It would 

 appear that it is only in later times that this has 

 been the case, for, according to M. Hericart de 

 Thury, although the original bed is now cultivated, 

 it may be still distinctly traced above the subterra- 

 nean course. 



The Drome in Normandy completely loses itself 

 in the midst of a meadow, in a pit of about thirty 

 feet diameter, known to the inhabitants under the 

 name of the Fosse de Soucy. But this engulfing 

 takes place only by degrees; for there are other 

 openings in the same locality which, though they 

 are less remarkable, yet, to use the local expres- 

 sion, drink up the greatest proportion of its water. 



In the same district of France, the Rille, the 

 Ron, the Jlurc, and other rivers which might be 

 named, are lost by degrees. There are, from one 

 point to another in the beds of these rivers, great 

 gaps, which are called betoirs, and each of which 

 absorbs a portion of the running stream. On its 

 arrival at the betoir which entirely drinks it up, the 

 stream is usually reduced to the size of a trifling 

 rivulet. 



It would be easy to quote examples such as 

 these, in which rivers entirely disappear from the 

 surface. But how much larger a descent of wa- 

 ter would require to be taken into account, if well 

 executed investigations had made known to us all 

 the instances in which there was only a partial dis- 

 appearance? We shall shortly have an opportu- 

 nity of remarking that the Loire is one of those 

 rivers in which this occurrence may be observed. 



There is often in these stratified formations, dis- 

 tinct sheets of water at different depths. The works 

 which have been undertaken in search of coal, 

 near to Saint-Nicolas d'Aliermont, near Dieppe, 

 have proved that there are seven great sheets of 

 water. Their respective positions are as follows: 



1st sheet of water at a depth of 76 feet. 



2d, 



3d, 



4th, 



5th, 



6th, 



7th, 



All these collections of water rushed with great 

 force towards the surface. 



During the boring of the wells of the Port Saint 

 Ouen, the Messrs. Flachat encountered five very 

 distinct sheets of water, all of which had the ten- 

 dency to rise. 



