158 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



north is readily explained by the lack of the shale cover, so that 

 any possible carbonated water in the region would become diluted 

 and swamped in the general mass of the ground water, which 

 would readily work its way downward into the rocks of the region 

 and drown out the other water. Of his theory in regard to the 

 origin of the carbon dioxid, we shall have more to say shortly. 



The shale cover. It is not pretended that the shale cover is 

 absolutely impervious to water; in fact it is known not to be. In 

 places, especially near its thinned, western edge, where less than 

 100 feet thick, springs of carbonated water broke through it, aris- 

 ing probably along, joint cracks. Such cracks are present in all 

 shales, especially near the ground surface, and are present here. 

 A few furnished channels for rising carbonated waters. Enough 

 of them became filled with ground water to transmit the general 

 ground water head to the carbonated rock waters beneath, thus 

 influencing their direction of movement. The matter is perhaps 

 best illustrated by a discussion of the conditions at the South 

 Broadway wells. 



Inspection of the topographic map will show that the ground 

 occupied by the Natural and Lincoln companies a mile south of 

 the village along South Broadway-, is relatively elevated as com- 

 pared with the line of occurrence of the springs in the village, or 

 as compared with the springs along Coesa creek. The levels near 

 South Broadway are between 310 and 320 feet, with a summit 

 of something over 320 feet elevation just east of South Broadway. 

 In the village the well heads have a general elevation of 280 feet, 

 which is also the average elevation along Coesa creek. From South 

 Broadway the ground level falls both toward the village and 

 toward Coesa creek (the normal ground water level should also 

 fall toward each from a high point on South Broadway), and if 

 this ground water head is transmitted down through the shales 

 along occasional cracks into the waters contained in the dolomite, 

 as seems highly probable, the tendency in these carbonated waters 

 would be also to move away from the South Broadway region 

 toward the village and toward Coesa creek. That is, the water 

 pressures would lend themselves to such a movement of the under- 

 ground waters and would oppose a contrary movement. If the 

 water head on South Broadway were interfered with and lowered 

 by any cause, this natural flow would be correspondingly weakened 

 and the water levels in the village and along the east side of Coesa 

 creek sympathetically lowered. 



