2 '.Dr* Darwins Account of 
Near my houfe was an old well, about one hmidfed; yards 
from the river, and about four yards deep, which had been 
many years difufed on account of the badnefs of the water, 
which I found to contain much vitriolic acid, with, at the 
fame time, a flight fulphureous fmell and tafte ; but did not 
carefully analyfe it. The mouth of this well was about four 
feet above the furface of the river ; and the ground, through 
which it was bank, conn! ted of a black, loofe, moift earth, 
which appeared to have been very lately a morafs, and is now 
covered with houfes built upon piles. At the bottom was 
found a bed of red marl, and the fpring, which was fo flrong 
as to give up many hogfheads in a day, oozed from between 
the morafs and the marl : it lay about eight feet beneath the 
furface of the river, and the water rofe within two feet of the 
top of the well. 
Having obferved that a very copious fpring, called Saint 
Alkmund’s well, rofe out of the ground about half a mile 
higher on the fame fide of the Darw r ent, the level of which f 
knew by the height of the intervening wier to be about four or 
five feet above the ground about my well ; and having obferved, 
that the higher lands, at the diftance of a mile or two behind 
thefe wells, confifted of red marl like that in the well ; I 
concluded, that, if I ihould bore through this ihratum of marl, 
I might probably gain a water fimilar to that of St. Alkmund’s 
well, and hoped that at the fame time it might rife above the 
furface of m 3 ) old well to the level of St. Alkmund’s. 
With this intent a pump was firft put down for the 
purpofe of more ealily keeping dry the bottom of the old well, 
and a hole about two and an half inches diameter was then 
bored about thirteen yards below the bottom of the well, 
till fome fand was brought by the auger. A wooden pipe, 
A which 
