136 E. F. PITTMAN. 



Geo. Otis Smith, who courteously replied as follows, on the 

 authority of Mr. M. L. Fuller :— 



" Rock pressure as a cause of artesian flows has been advocated 

 by several geologists besides Mr. Robert Hay, but has never been 

 supported by any real evidence, and has never received official 

 sanction, nor has it been generally accepted by careful private 

 investigators. In fact, it should be regarded simply as a 

 suggestion advanced to explain flows for which no other cause 

 was known at the time. 



"While no special investigations have been made of the Kansas 

 wells, which you mention, they appear to differ in no way from 

 many others developed in this country in the last few years. 

 Flows from rocks which do not outcrop at the surface, and which 

 are devoid of the usual basin structure, are not at all uncommon. 

 In most instances the water reaches the lower water-bearing beds 

 through vertical joints (or faults), the head of the water being 

 determined by the ground water level at the point where the 

 joints reach the surface. This is probably the case in the Kansas 

 locality." 



With regard to Professor Gregory's reference to a second 

 (and Australian) advocate for the rock pressure theory, 

 viz., Air. F. B. Gipps, it may be stated that Mr. Gipps' 

 views on this subject have not received the support of 

 scientific men in Australia, but on the contrary have been 

 severely criticised. 1 



• In regard to the present reckless waste of the artesian 

 water, and the question as to what extent the bores may 

 be increased without overtaking the supply, Professor 

 Gregory sounds a warning note which will appeal to most 

 thinking men. The Australian artesian basin is the largest 

 in the world, but there can be no doubt that even it must 

 have its limits of productiveness. In the United States, 

 artesian basins 'have been exhausted to such an extent that 



1 This Journal, Vol. xxvu., 1893, pp. 431 - 443. 



