206 Miscellanies. 
cede westward, by H. Brooks of Philadelphia, M. Humphrys of Md. 
and others in Virginia. . 1802, more than 1° 30’ W., by R. Howel. 
1804, 2° W., by several men of science. 1813, 2° 27’ W., by 
Thomas Whitney.” About the year 1810, the late Mr. Spencer of 
Litchfield county published in the Connecticut Courant, that for @ 
number of years then past, the needle had declined to the west. Mr. 
Nathaniel Goodwin of Hartford, than whom there is not a more cor- 
rect man in that city, has, for many years past, attended to the de= 
clination of the needle, and, according to his observations, it Has 
steadily tended to the west. In 1805, I commenced observa~ 
tions, and since that period, the needle has declined tothe west more. 
than a degree. The distance between this town and Salem does — 
not exceed one hundred miles. If it is sufficiently proved that while 
the west declination at Salem has decreased, at other places to the 
west it has increased, who can account for the anomaly ? - 
3. Bowe for Water—In & former volume of this “Touroah, we 
gave some account of Mr. Disbrow’s operations for obtaining walter. 
by boring. We observe with pleasure that the subject is acquiring @ — 
fresh interest, in consequence of new and successful experiments, a% 
stated in a pamphlet which appeared in July in the city of New. 
York, with the signatures of John L. Sullivan and Levi Disbrow- 
We are not, on this occasion, about to discuss the causes of the ris, 
of water from deep perforations, nor, even to agitate the question 
whether it may always be expected at a certain depth. It is sufli- 
cient that it is often obtained. The excavation in New York, of the, 
great well for the city tank to the depth of one hundred feet,.cixteen, 
feet diameter, with two horizontal shafts of four feet square, yields 
eight thousand gallons per diem, or three hundred and thirty-three 
per hour, or between five and six gallons per minute. 
The Bleecker-street perforation of four hundred and forty-two 
feet, yields forty-four thousand gallons per day, or one thousand eigh 
hundred and thirty-three gallons per hour, or about thirty gallons, 
nearly a barrel, a minute. It would seem, therefore, that if such @ 
treasure is-attainable in these places, it may be in others within the 
city, and therefore that there should be no_ hesitation in proceeding 
vigorously and promptly with the effort. ‘The probability of success 
justifies a decisive experiment at the expense of even one. 
thousand dollars ; and complete success in obtaining abundance. ol 
fresh water from the strata below New York, is worth, we wiles 
say millions; it is beyond all price.—Ed. 
