SPRINGS, GEYSERS AND ARTESIAN WELLS. 



If the earth were transparent as the 

 atmosphere we should see many things 

 of wonderful interest and beauty beneath 

 its surface. If we could see the rnineral 

 gems that lie beneath the earth's sur- 

 face they would rival in beauty the jew- 

 eled firmanent above us. We should also 

 see rivers and rivulets of crystal clear- 

 ness and lakes of broad expanse. I can 

 almost hear my young readers saying, "I 

 wish we could look beneath the surface 

 of the earth and see the wonderful and 

 beautiful things it contains, just as we 

 look up to the stars, or out of the window 

 upon a landscape." But let me remind 

 them that nature has been very generous 

 in furnishing rare and wonderful things 

 for them to study and admire to which 

 they can have easy access almost every 

 day. The longest life is too short to 

 study and admire more than a few of 

 the things we may see upon the surface 

 of the earth. Nature has opened a few 

 doors so that we may walk in, study and 

 admire the work she is carrying on in the 

 darkness where the light of the sun never 

 penetrates. Nature makes a free use of 

 sunlight to perfect her most beautiful 

 work upon the surface of the earth, but 

 her most delicate and beautiful work be- 

 neath the surface of the earth is wrought 

 by other agencies. Caves have been en- 

 tered and explored by natural openings, 

 and springs and rivers gush out at the 

 surface of _ the earth, telling us plainly 

 that they are fed by subterranean foun- 

 tains and lakes. 



Following the order of our topic, let 

 us see what we can find out about un- 

 derground streams and lakes, and why 

 we know they exist when we seldom see 

 them. We know that large rivers after 

 flowing miles upon the surface of the 

 earth sucklenly drop into subterranean 

 channels and reappear after running 

 miles underground. Springs which are 

 always flowing must be constantly fed 

 from some source beneath the surface of 



the earth. In boring wells the augers, 

 after going down to various depths, sud- 

 denly drop several feet, showing that 

 they have reached a cavity in the earth 

 or a fountain of wat«gr; if the water 

 gushes up it is evident a fountain has 

 been struck. 



Where does the water come from to 

 fill the underground lakes and reservoirs 

 and keep the rivers constantly flowing? M 

 Geologists tell us that all the land sur- ■ 

 face of the earth was for vast ages under 

 water; that the great oceans that now ■ 

 roll between the continents once covered m 

 them entirely, but after long ages mighty 

 internal forces of the earth raised them 

 above the ocean's level. For a long 

 time after the hills and mountains were 

 raised above the surface of the ocean, 

 where the valleys and prairies now are 

 there were lakes and inland seas. The 

 water in these lakes and seas did not all 

 evaporate or find its way to the ocean by 

 the rivers that flowed from them. Deep 

 down into the earth much of it found 

 its way, along the fissures and porous 

 strata, until it reached some impervious ., 

 stratum, as clay or granite. But as this ^ 

 first underground supply would in time 

 become exhausted, by flowing into the 

 ocean through the rivers they fed, nature 

 has made further provision for keeping 

 up the supply. Everywhere upon the 

 surface of the earth where there is water 

 or moisture evaporation is going on. The 

 sun raises enormous quantities of water 

 in the form of vapor, which forms clouds 

 and descends in rain. A part of this 

 water is soon restored to the sea by the 

 rivers, but by far the largest portion 

 penetrates the earth's surface, as water 

 would penetrate cloth or a sponge when 

 poured upon it. Rain penetrating the 

 earth goes down until it comes to some 

 substance that it cannot penetrate. Then, 

 in trying to find its level, it will distrib- 

 ute itself just as it does upon the surface 

 of the earth. It will finds its way into 



