464 



ARTESIAN WELLS. 



Mr. George M'Williams (who, I am told, caused the first well to be made) 

 informs me that, " At the depth of ninety feet, the drill struck a bed of sand and 

 gravel, of various colours, and the water gushed out with such force as to throw 

 out gravel, as large as a pea, and sand. In the course of half a day it became 

 clear." Mr. M'Williams estimates the discharge at one gallon per second, without 

 any perceptible change in the quantity. In July, the temperature was 48° Fahren- 

 heit; and in January, 1850, when the mercury in the air was at 20° Fahrenheit, 

 the water in the tube was 51° Fahrenheit. If it shall be found, on further exami- 

 nation, that the water in these wells is of higher temperature in winter than in 

 summer, a point of some theoretical interest will arise as to the cause of the change. 

 At Oshkosh, in a well fifty feet deep, I found the water at 48° Fahrenheit in Sep- 

 tember. 



The discharge of water from the Fond du Lac wells is much more rapid in some 

 than others. At Oshkosh, twenty miles north, also on the margin of the Lake, 

 they have bored a few, but they do not give as much water as at Fond du Lac ; the 

 depth is from thirty to sixty feet, and in the same strata as at Fond du Lac, to wit : 



Feet. 



1. Red clay, ....... 20 



2. Blue clay and quicksand, . . . . .30 



3. Sand and gravel (water stratum), a few feet. 



4. Lime-rock. 



At Neenah, at the north end of the Lake, their depth is not so great. One of 

 those at Oshkosh became dry during the fall. 



Attempts have been made at Appleton, at the foot of the Grand Chute, but the 

 water does not rise to the surface. This no doubt is owing to a stratum of sand 

 and gravel underlying the red clay at the depth of thirty and forty feet. Through 

 this open stratum, the water would flow into the river, not being confined on that 

 side by surrounding impervious strata. At Green Bay, the water has not yet 

 (October, 1849) been struck in such force as to flow over. The following is the 

 order of strata penetrated there by Mr. Curtis. 



Feet. 



1. Red clay, ....... 72 



2. Quicksand (with water), . . . . . 2 to 3 



3. Hard pan — sand and clay cemented, .... 6 



4. Red clay, ....... 1 



5. Hard pan, ....... 4 



6. Red clay, ....... 1 



7. Hard pan, ....... $ 



8. Red clay, ....... 20 



9. Lime-rock — Silurian. 



107* 



The boring is effected by a heavy four-inch drill, worked with a spring-pole, as 

 in salt borings. The cost is seventy-five cents to a dollar per foot. In the Green 

 Bay well no water was struck below the quicksand bed, No. 2. The stream from 



