No. 9. 



Boring the Earth for JVutcr. 



269 



Boring the Earth for 'H'atcr. 



Fig. 34. 



An economical process has been practised 

 of late years for obtaining water from great 

 depths, without the expenseof sinking a well. 

 This process consists simply in boring the 

 earth with an aujrer and other proper instru- 

 ments, to a considerable depth ; and in most 

 situations water will flow either to the sur- 

 face, or to within a short distance from it; in 

 tome places it has been known to spout to a 

 considerable height above it. It has long 

 been a question whence these springs derive 

 their supply, and how they acquire the power 

 of ascension. The most natural supposition 

 is, that they are connected by subterraneous 

 channels with some elevated reservoir; but 

 this explanation is not altogether free from 

 difficulty. These "Artesian wells," as they 

 are termed, are to be met with in the middle 

 of extensive plains, at a great distance from 



any hills, and upon the sides of mountains, 

 which require to be bored to a great depth 

 before the water is attained. At Mount 

 Rouge, at Paris, 80 feet above the level of the 

 Seine, there is one of these wells 315 feet 

 deep. If, therefore, these wells be supplied 

 from an elevated reservoir, it must lie at a 

 very considerable distance from the wells. — 

 The implements made use of in the process 

 are extremely simple, and are represented 

 in the engraving ^iven above. A is the 

 cross handle of the borer, for two men to 

 work ; B the chisel borer, which is made to 

 screw into A; C the auger, which also screws 

 into A; D a lengthening rod, having at one 

 end an external screw fitting the screw of A, 

 and at the other end a hollow screw like that in 

 A, so that all the instruments which fit into A 

 may, as occasion requires, be screwed into the 



