EjJudation of Gasc6 luidcr siufjidar circumstances. 225 



XXIII. On an Exhalation of Gases, under sinr/tdar cir- 

 cumstances, from a Bog near Strathpeffcr. By Hugh 

 Miller, Esq., F.R.S.E. 



(Read intli January 1890.) 



For the information which led to my inquiries into the 

 facts of this curious case, I am indebted to Mr Hossack 

 of the Crofter Commission. 



Two and a half years ago, in the summer or autumn of 

 1887, a curling pond was constructed in the grounds of Fair- 

 bairn Castle (John Stirling, Esq. of Fairbairn) on the banks of 

 the River Orrin, not far from Strathpeffer. The pond was 

 made in the heart of a peat bog. Its sides were bordered 

 by a stone embankment ; its bottom still rested on the soft 

 peat, of which quantities were, of course, taken out during 

 its excavation. The winter came, and with it a season of 

 frost, but the ice was of no use whatever for skating upon. 

 It was found to be spotted and flawed in every direction 

 with multitudes of flat bubbles of every size, many of them 

 as large as a dinner plate or a small ashet. When these 

 bubbles were broken or punctured there was an escape of gas 

 with a slight hiss or roar. Someone thought of applying a 

 light to the escaping gas. Instantly there was a jet of flame, 

 described to me as rising with a kind of explosion, in some 

 cases as much as five feet into the air. Here then, it was 

 thought, was Will-o'-the-Wisp actually ice-bound, and the 

 case seems to have excited considerable interest among the 

 intelligent occupiers of the castle. But all prospects of a 

 winter's curling were disappointed. 



On the following winter when I visited, and made inquiries 

 on the spot, the bubbles were described as having been 

 much smaller, and the exhalations were supposed to be wear- 

 ing out, but there had been almost no frost. My visit took 

 place in the middle of December 1888. The pond lies 

 about a quarter of a mile south from the castle. The 

 bog, which it had partly replaced, occupied the lowest 

 terrace of the Orrin, only a few }ards from the river, and 

 not more than about eight feet above its bed. The stream 



