1877.] 127 {Ashburner. 
what would be required to balance the parts, and that the blowing engine 
must be balanced to run at a given speed and thus be liable to definite 
changes of motion of the fly-wheel each stroke. In all steam engines 
with single cylinders it must be recognized that during an instant of the 
stroke, the fly-wheel must, solely and unaided, maintain the speed and give 
out the whole power of the engine by retardation, while in most engines, 
during a considerable portion of the stroke, the fly-wheel is aiding, or as- 
sisting to impel, the shaft of transmission ; of course receiving a corres- 
ponding impulse from other portions of the same stroke. 
The unbalanced forces which resuJt from changes of speed of rotation 
of these unsymmetrical wheels, are transformed into pressures at the 
axes and have to be sustained by the bearings and resisted by the frame 
works which carry or support the same, in addition to any strain, proceed- 
ing from the mechanism employed in giving rotation or in transmission of 
power. As pressure or load upon the bearings, the increment of heat de- 
rived from friction may cause the total heat to surpass the limit of disper- 
sion in cases where the direct weight of the fly-wheel, approach, as they 
frequently do, the maximum load of practical endurance on the bearing 
surfaces. The apparently unaccountable heating of some fly-wheel bear- 
ings, where the absolute pressures from load or work are not so great as 
to cause heating, has been noticed by all practical mechanics, and the 
considerations now presented offer a reasonable hypothesis in explanation. 
In Mahan’s Moseley’s Mechanics will be found some mathematical inves- 
tigations leading in this direction, see appendix notes D and E, but a 
study of these forces and an application of the theorem to the special case of 
a fly-wheel regulating force or power is needed to complete the theory of 
practical mechanical construction. 
Description of the Wilcox Spouting Water- Well. 
By CuHas. A. ASHBURNER, M. S., ASSISTANT GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
(Read before the American Philosophical Society September 21, 1877.) 
The Wilcox Spouting Water- Well for the last nine months has attracted 
considerable attention, from the immense columns of water and gas which 
are periodically (every seven minutes) thrown up into air to a height of from 
85 to 115 feet. The well is located in the valley of West Clarion Creek, 
just north of the southern boundary of McKean County, Pennsylvania, 
and five miles north of Wilcox, a station on the Philadelphia and Erie 
Railroad 104 miles east of the City of Erie. 
The history of the well may be briefly stated as follows : 
The Wilcox Well No. 1, or the old Adams Well, was drilled in 1864 (?) 
