114 E. F. PITTMAN. 



and this is hardly to be wondered at, seeing that the great 

 depths of the bores prevent us from ascertaining the exact 

 conditions which prevail at their extremities. It may be 

 as well to repeat therefore that the foregoing suggestions 

 are merely put forward as possible explanations. In any 

 case it is difficult to see that these anomalous temperatures 

 are any proof of the truth of Professor Gregory's contention 

 viz., that the water is of plutonic origin; for if it were we 

 would expect it to reach the surface with a temperature 

 of at least 212°, whereas in no single instance does it do 

 so. The highest temperature recorded for any artesian 

 well in Australia is 202" at Elderslie Bore, 4523 feet deep, 

 and situated about 40 miles west of Winton in Queensland. 



Anomalies in Pressure.— In considering anomalies in 

 regard to the observed pressure of Australian artesian bore 

 waters, Professor Gregory makes a critical analysis of the 

 data published by the officials of Queensland, New South 

 Wales, and South Australia. As a result, he considers 

 that the irregularities in regard to the distribution of water 

 pressure are too great to be explained by variations in the 

 texture and thickness of the porous water-bearing beds, 

 and he advances this as a further argument against the 

 acceptance of the hydrostatic pressure theory. It is not 

 considered that any useful purpose would be served by 

 closely following the details of Gregory's criticism so far 

 as it relates to the location of isopotential lines. It may 

 be stated at once that the work done in determining the 

 position of isopotentials, independently, in the three States, 

 is patchy and very incomplete, and to deduce anything 

 definite from it in its present stage would be like attempt- 

 ing to fit together a toy puzzle of which half the pieces 

 are missing. Moreover it is quite possible that errors may 

 have occurred in some of the determinations which would 

 account for the apparent crossing of some of the isopotential 



