AIR BLASTS BELOW GROUND. 
HENRY PRESTON, F.G:S., 
Hawthornden Villa, Oe ee Geological olgeesitd to the Lincolnshire 
turalists’ Union j 
IN relation to soil and romnaie Kaisa and a whole class 
of facts especially interesting to naturalists at the present time, 
I send you a few particulars of an air-blast in a well recently 
sunk at Boothby Pagnell, Lincolnshire, by the Hon. Maurice R. 
Gifford. On 23rd January 1899, Mr. Gifford wrote to me 
respecting this well, which was then being sunk :—‘At the 
106 feet bed there is a most tremendous blast of fresh air from 
a fissure in the rock. On Saturday last (21st January), the wind 
being S.W., it blew the candles out in the bottom of the well. 
To-day (afternoon), the wind being N.W.., if you put the candles 
near the fissure it draws the flame out, and when I was down 
this morning the wind was roaring in the fissure as it escaped 
like blowing a hurricane.’ 
Now the 106 feet bed of rock above mentioned is 68 feet in 
the Lincolnshire Oolite, which is overlaid at Boothby Pagnell by 
38 feet of clays and limestones of the Great Oolite and Upper 
Estuarine series. On Thursday, 26th January, I went down the 
well and saw the fissures. There are three openings, varying in 
size. Into the principal one a man could easily insert his arm 
and shoulder, but I did not measure it. The blast at that time 
from this largest fissure would blow out a candle held six inches 
from the opening into the well. The air was quite ‘fresh,’ and 
so cold that the men had to work with jackets and scarves on. 
On 23rd February the blast was still blowing into the well; on 
the 24th there was a slight draw from the well into the fissure ; 
in fact, the ‘ blowing’ and ‘ drawing’ varied very often, as was 
noticed by the smoke from the blasting shots. Water was first 
- reached at 131 feet, or 25 feet below the fissures. The theory 
of explanation drawn up at the time when all the facts were 
before me I give here ; it is as follows :— The underground 
waters having risen in wt ee of the heavy rains during 
the past few weeks, the in the rocks and that which was 
drawn down entangled in Bee descending water, had become 
compressed, and would even be pushed before the water in its 
easterly and downwards course, if no sufficient outlet was found, 
and this compressed air would not have the same opportunity to 
escape during a continuance of wet weather such as was the 
ease at the time. Therefore as soon as the fissure was opened 
~ October 1899. ; bs 
