502 GLACIAL FORMATIONS OF ERIE AND OHIO BASINS. 



drift is reported to be sand. Ordinary water wells in Anna 15 to 20 feet 

 deep pass through the till and obtain water from the sand. 



At Yorkshire, Ohio, 5 or 6 miles southwest of New Berlin, the drift is 

 less than 100 feet in thickness, though near the crest of the moraine, while 

 a few miles north, near the inner border of the moraine, its thickness is but 

 20 to 25 feet. The wells in the neighborhood of Yorkshire and at many 

 points along the moraine farther west often have what is termed "bitter 

 water." An analysis of such water from a well at Mount Pleasant, Jay 

 County, Ind., is reported by McCaslin,^ the analysis being made by 

 Edward Haynes, of Portland, who also contributed the remarks following 

 the analysis. 



Qualitative analysis of "bitter water" from Mount Pleasant, Ind. 



Free carbonic acid. 



Carbonate of calcium. 



Carbonate of iron. 



Carbonate of magnesium (trace). 



Sulphate of magnesium (epsom salts). 



Sulphate of aluminum (trace) . 



Chlorides (trace). 



The sulphate of magnesium existed in quite large quantities, and is undoubtedly 

 the cause of the bitter taste of the water. The well-known cathartic "epsom salts" 

 is sulphate of magnesium. To a sample of water similar in composition to the above, 

 except that it contains no epsom salts, was added a small quantit}' of that substance 

 (obtained from a druggist), and the result was a bitter water which could not be 

 distinguished from the sample analyzed. Moreover, after all the other constituents 

 of the water, save that of the sulphate of magnesium, were removed, the water still 

 retained its bitter taste. The carbonates of iron and calcium existed in considerable 

 quantities, and were held in solution by the free carbonic acid contained in the water. 

 No test was made for phosphoric acid, as the necessary requisites could not be 

 obtained in this place. 



At Redkey, Ind., the drift in a gas well near the station is 73 feet, and 

 is mainly blue till. A water well near the station penetrai;ed only 63 feet 

 of drift, but its altitude is probably 8 to 10 feet less than the gas well. At 

 Como, 3 miles east of Redkey, a gas boring penetrated 80 feet of drift, 

 mainly blue till. At Dunkirk the drift is mainly blue till, and gas wells 

 enter rock at 60 to 75 feet. At Millgrove a gas boring penetrated 143 feet 

 of drift, largely a blue till. In Hartford records of four gas wells were 

 obtained whose drift thicknesses are 84, 87, 133, and 150 feet. In these 



1 Twelfth Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Indiana, 1882, p. 171. 



