168 



Accon7it of a7i otte^npt to form 



[No. 34, 



mous upward pressure. One at Roussillou rises from 30 to 50 feet 

 above the surface. At Perpignan and Tours the water rises up with 

 so much force, that a cannon ball placed in the pipe of an Artesian well 

 is instantly ejected by the ascending stream. It is from this circum- 

 stance that these wells are called in Lincolnshire *' Blow wells," and 

 where they appear to have been as common as at Artois, from which 

 place they derive their name. The Artesian well at the Royal Hos- 

 pital, Haslar, furnishes more than 59,000 gallons per day, and is re- 

 markable for its running through a stratum of shingle and running 

 sand 125 feet thick, and full of salt water affected by the tides, but 

 which has been stopped out. The whole depth is 156 feet. The 

 deepest Artesian well with which we are acquainted is that at 

 Grenelle, which is 1,584 feet in depth, and affords 500,000 gallons 

 per day. To a country like India, where the supply of water is so 

 variable and uncertain in many parts, the construction of these wells 

 might prove of incalculable advantage, as they may be made at a 

 much less cost than the usual plan of constructing wells of large dia- 

 meter. The largest well that has ever been constructed is that 

 made by Clement VII. at Orvieto, through solid rock. Its depth is 

 265 feet, and diameter over 80 feet. We mention this to contrast 

 the immense labour and expense that must have been incurred, with 

 those of the well at Grenelle, and which latter furnishes a larger 

 quantity of water, with less trouble, and at greatly less cost. 



We have again to furnish an account of another attempt to obtain 

 water by an Artesian boring, of which we likewise furnish a section. 

 We think that, in preference to the jumper, recourse might be had to 

 the drill used in Hunter's stone boring machine, wherein sand stone 

 is perforated with ease. A perforation first made with this instru- 

 ment of about 2 or 3 inches in diameter would pave the way for a 

 much more effective use of the jumper ; as stone is much more easi- 

 ly broken around a hole in it, than when the stone is in the solid. 



The' site selected for the experiment was on a neck of land north 

 of the town, and within 50 yards of the sea, in a private compound, 

 the property of Mr. Mather, at whose expense the experiment was 

 carried on. Operations commenced on the 15th April, 1846, and 

 were continued at intervals between that and the 2 1st July following, 

 after which nothing was done in consequence of Mr. Mather leaving 

 Tuticorin. An excavation 12 feet square by 4 feet deep was first 

 made in the sand, Tiie triangle was then fixed in its place, and a 



