1U2 



was oijeiied up and allowed to flow freely 

 through an 8|-inch pipe for eleven days, and 

 then through a 3-inch pipe three days more. 

 The gas was again tested by trying to burn it 

 in boilers, stoves and other places. But it was 

 found to have practically the same character 

 as when first obtained. During this long flow 

 the well ' drilled itself in ' to a considerable 

 extent; that is, the escaping gas broke the 

 iipper part of the gas-bearing sandstone, blew 

 the particles out through the casing and 

 thereby deepened the hole. The static pres- 

 sure of the gas at present is 120 pounds, and 

 the flowage capacity, measured by the ordinarj' 

 method using the pitot tube and Robinson's 

 ta bles, is reported to be seven million cubic feet 

 per twenty-four hours. These measurements 

 have not been verified by the state survey, but 

 the parties making them are so well known it 

 is safe to assume they are approximately cor- 

 rect. 



An ordinary gas-receiving cylinder with an 

 opening at each end was now shipped down to 

 the well and was filled with gas by the ordinary 

 replacement method, the cylinder first being 

 filled with water. The full pressure of the 

 well was admitted to the cylinder, the valves 

 securely closed, and the same shipped to 

 Lawrence for analysis. The analysis of the 

 gas was made by the junior author of this 

 article and gave results as follows : 



Oxygen 0.20 



Carbon dioxide 0.00 



Carbon monoxide 0.00 



^Methane, CH 15.02 



Hydrogen 0.80 



Nitrogen 71.89 



Inert residue 12.09 



Total 100.00 



The analysis was carried out chiefly by 

 means of the well-known methods given in 

 ITempel's ' Gas Analysis.' 



Methane was delerniinod by couibustion of 

 the gas with pure oxygen and measurement of 

 the resulting contraction, and also of the car- 

 bon dioxide formed in the combustion. 

 Hydrogen was absorbed in a palladium tube; 

 farbon dioxide was tested for with a potas- 

 sium hydrate pipette and carbon monoxide 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. Xo. 527. 



with ammoniacal cuprous chloride solution. 

 For the determination of oxygen a phosphorus 

 pil)ette was used. The residual gas left un- 

 absorbed after all the above operations was 

 treated by the method used by Ramsay and • 

 Rayleigh in the separation of argon from 

 atmospheric nitrogen (Journal of London 

 Chemical Society, 1897, 181). The residue 

 was mixed with an excess of pure oxygen and 

 confined in a tube over mercury. A small 

 quantity of a strong solution of potassium 

 hydroxide was introduced into the tube over 

 the mercury and a spark from an induction 

 coil was passed through the mixture for about 

 sixty hours. The nitrogen peroxide formed 

 in the operation was absorbed by the solution 

 of potassium hydroxide. The sparking was 

 continued for several hours after all contrac- 

 tion in the volume of the gas had ceased, and 

 the residue was then removed from the tube 

 and passed into a phosphorus pipette filled 

 with fresh phosphorus. Here it was kept for 

 several hours to insure the complete absorp- 

 tion of the excess oxygen. The residue which 

 failed to be absorbed was then measured. This 

 constitutes the portion which is designated in 

 the analysis as inert residue. No examina- 

 tion into the constitution of this residue has 

 yet been made, because of lack of time, and 

 until this is done nothing can be said con- 

 cerning its composition, save that there is a 

 possibility of its containing argon or other 

 inert gaseous elements which have been found 

 ill atmospheric air. 



The investigation of the inert gases will be 

 carried out as soon as time will permit, 



Geologically the mouth of the well is in the 

 Permian, and the gas-bearing sandstone is 

 close to the division line between the Upper 

 Toal Measures and the Lower Permian. No 

 caves or underground caverns of any impor- 

 tance ever have been found in this part of the 

 state. The formations are a mixture of 

 alternating beds of limestone and shale, with 

 comparatively small amounts of sandstone 

 found here and there in the shale. The gas 

 itself, it should be remembered, occurs in sand- 

 stone in the same manner that ordinary nat- 

 ural gas occurs in other sandstones farther 

 east. Naturally one is led to inquire whence 



SCIENCE. 



