1877. | 133 (Briggs. 
Norr.—Since writing the above it has been reported to me that the gas 
in well No. 2 has been partly confined, and the increased pressure in well 
No. 1 has somewhat altered the action of the water and gas. The large 
column is thrown to a greater height. 
Discussion. 
Mr. Briggs remarked that the conditions which produce the phenomena 
of Spouting Wells and of Geysers are sufficiently simple but perhaps not 
generally comprehended. One of the essentials for the peculiar eruption 
and periodic discharge which they exhibit, is the enlargement or funnel 
shape of the upper portion of the cavity; so that at or near the final effort 
of each pulsation, the confined gas or steam shall be suddenly relieved of a 
part of the pressure of column or head, and the gas or vapor beneath the 
liquid, in so large a bubble as to form a chamber or reservoir of gas or 
steam, be allowed to expand agginst a less pressure than that under which 
it had generated or been supplied when lifting the column from the bottom 
of the well to the place where the well enlarged. 
By tracing the phenomenon of a single pulsation, as it may be assumed 
from the foregoing description to have occurred, it will be seen that, com- 
mencing with that period when the gas has exhausted its pressure by a 
nearly free discharge, after the complete expulsion of the water and relief 
from any resistance except that proceeding from the depth of water in the 
shallow pool formed about the mouth of the well (presumed to be from 1 
to 2 feet in depth at most), after the pressure of gas falls below this presumed 
depth, the steps in operation are as follows: A portion of the water in the 
pool at the top flows back upon the well, quickly forming a column within 
it and compressing the gas beneath, which is in much too large volume to 
rise through the water in small bubbles, although some bubbles may force 
their way up when the return of water first begins and discharge eruptively 
as they approach the surface, lifting a spatter of water at such discharge, 
but finally the water column will have acquired such height as to flow 
quickly down the well and receive such augmentation of quantity as the 
water bearing strata may supply, filling the well nearly to the bottom, 
some considerable portion of solid water passing below the level of the 
upper gas bearing strata and compressing the lower gas by the momentum 
of the water to the point where its gas supply may be stopped from flowing. 
Possibly a bubble of gas from the upper gas bearing strata will be formed 
in the column and be carried downwards, as there is 400 feet of depth of 
well between these two strata and we can scarcely conceive of 400 feet of 
solid water, or even 300, to reach between the two levels; but at all events a 
column of water of some height exists between the upper and lower yas 
strata when the ultimate recession of water into the well has occurred. 
The gradual supply of gas from both sources of supply now overcomes and 
slowly elevates the mass of water, however broken by gas bubbles, giving 
a nearly uniform pressure of column during such time as it is elevated in 
